Page 78 of 174
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
119
118
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
a one-day-per-week basis. The courses are conducted in Cantonese, and the syllabus is designed to provide park-keepers with the knowledge and training they need to carry out their duties efficiently. The programme includes lectures on the Pleasure Grounds By-laws, the responsibilities of parkkeepers, the control of dogs in parks, courtesy to the public, plant identification, report-writing and procedures for taking out summonses and giving evidence in courts. Lecture notes in Chinese are also issued to help course members to remember what has been taught. In addition to lectures, excursions to major parks and playgrounds and visits to courts are arranged from time to time. Instructors on these courses are usually senior staff of the Gardens Section, but occasionally guest-speakers from other divisions or other departments are invited to give talks on more specialized topics, e.g. prosecution and court procedures. An examination is held at the end of each course and judging from the average pass percentage of over 80% in these years, the courses have been successfully run.
The subjects covered by these "Parkkeeping Service" courses touch on every major aspect of a parkkeeper's job and the training provided is considered to be adequate. However, there is always room for improvement, and the Council is continuously working to provide better training for its staff. To this end, a survey has already been carried out by the Urban Services Department of future training needs.
The present establishment of park and playground keepers is 296 and the strength is 293.
MR. TSIN (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, when we handed over 216 playgrounds to the Housing Authority, did we consider the ability of the latter to control these playgrounds?
MR. Lo (in English):-Mr. Chairman, the main reason why these 216 playgrounds were handed over to the Housing Authority was that it was carefully considered over a period of, I may say, one or two years, we came to the conclusion that the Housing Authority with their staff on the ground at the various estates, would be able to maintain these playgrounds better than we could do.
(3) MR. TSIN SAI-NIN asked the following question (in Cantonese):-
What is the Urban Council's existing procedure for licensing restaurants? How many applicants have waited for 3 years for the issue of restaurant licences? for 5 years? And, how many for 10 years?
How many
What is the number of unlicensed restaurants at present? So far, how many of them have been prosecuted and how many have not been prosecuted?
DR. P. C. WONG, VICE-CHAIRMAN OF THE FOOD HYGIENE SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in Cantonese): —
Annex III
Annex IV
The first part of this question refers to the Urban Council's procedure for licensing restaurants. Since this involves a number of stages, I am tabling a paper for the information of Members which describes, in detail, how the existing procedure works.
The second part of this question concerns the number of applicants who have waited for three, five, and ten years respectively for the issue of a restaurant licence. The answer is that only one applicant for a licence has been outstanding for more than three years and I should make it clear that this delay is not the result of any failure by the Council or the Urban Services Department to deal with it promptly. A written report on this case is tabled.
No licence applications are outstanding for five or ten years and Members will note that the case which I have described was outstanding for more than three years only because of repeated changes in the applicant's own proposals. I should make it clear that during most of this period the restaurant was not operating. However, on 14th September this year, it was noted that an unlicensed business had started and a summons has been taken out against the applicant.
The third part of this question concerns the number of unlicensed restaurants at present. At the end of September there were 313 known unlicensed general restaurants and 164 unlicensed light refreshment restaurants. 232 of the general restaurants and 130 of the light refreshment restaurants had not applied for licences.
Page 78 of 174
Page 78 of 174
Page 78 of 174
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
119
118
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
a one-day-per-week basis. The courses are conducted in Cantonese, and the syllabus is designed to provide park- keepers with the knowledge and training they need to carry out their duties efficiently. The programme includes lectures on the Pleasure Grounds By-laws, the responsi- bilities of parkkeepers, the control of dogs in parks, courtesy to the public, plant identification, report-writing and procedures for taking out summonses and giving evidence in courts. Lecture notes in Chinese are also issued to help course members to remember what has been taught. In addition to lectures, excursions to major parks and playgrounds and visits to courts are arranged from time to time. Instructors on these courses are usually senior staff of the Gardens Section, but occasionally quest-speakers from other divisions or other departments are invited to give talks on more specialized topics, e.g. prosecution and court procedures. An examination is held at the end of each course and judging from the average pass percentage of over 80% in these years, the courses have been successfully run.
The subjects covered by these "Parkkeeping Service" courses touch on every major aspect of a parkkeeper's job and the training provided is considered to be adequate. How- ever, there is always room for improvement, and the Council is continuously working to provide better training for its staff. To this end, a survey has already been carried out by the Urban Services Department of future training needs.
The present establishment of park and playground keepers is
296 and the strength is 293.
MR. TSIN (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, when we handed over 216 playgrounds to the Housing Authority, did we consider the ability of the latter to control these playgrounds?
MR. Lo (in English):-Mr. Chairman, the main reason why these 216 playgrounds were handed over to the Housing Authority was that it was carefully considered over a period of, I may say, one or two years, we came to the conclusion that the Housing Authority with their staff on the ground at the various estates, would be able to maintain these playgrounds better than we could do.
(3) MR. TSIN SAI-NIN asked the following question (in Cantonese):-
What is the Urban Council's existing procedure for licensing restaurants? How many applicants have waited for 3 years for the issue of restaurant licences? for 5 years? And, how many for 10 years?
How many
What is the number of unlicensed restaurants at present? So far, how many of them have been prosecuted and how many have not been prosecuted?
DR. P. C. WONG, VICE-CHAIRMAN OF THE FOOD HYGIENE SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in Cantonese): —
Annex III
Annex IV
The first part of this question refers to the Urban Council's procedure for licensing restaurants. Since this involves a number of stages, I am tabling a paper for the informa- tion of Members which describes, in detail, how the existing procedure works.
The second part of this question concerns the number of applicants who have waited for three, five, and ten years respectively for the issue of a restaurant licence. The answer is that only one applicant for a licence has been outstanding for more than three years and I should make it clear that this delay is not the result of any failure by the Council or the Urban Services Department to deal with it promptly. A written report on this case is tabled.
No licence applications are outstanding for five or ten years and Members will note that the case which I have described was outstanding for more than three years only because of repeated changes in the applicant's own pro- posals. I should make it clear that during most of this period the restaurant was not operating. However, on 14th September this year, it was noted that an unlicensed business had started and a summons has been taken out against the applicant.
The third part of this question concerns the number of un- licensed restaurants at present. At the end of September there were 313 known unlicensed general restaurants and 164 unlicensed light refreshment restaurants. 232 of the general restaurants and 130 of the light refreshment restaurants had not applied for licences.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.