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possibility of constructing an ice-skating rink. As a matter of fact, I first raised this suggestion in early 1975 during the Council's annual debate.

and the Public Works Department carried out a programme of visits in In February 1977, a team of officers from the Urban Services Department the United States, Canada and Japan, primarily to study the design of Olympic and similar swimming pools and associated facilities. They also took the opportunity to visit ice-skating rinks in the cities included in their tour. The study team subsequently recommended that, if the Urban Council decided to construct a public ice-skating rink, it should be either an ice-skating rink-cum-recreational swimming pool or an ice-skating rink side by side with a swimming pool.

This recommendation was discussed by the Recreation & Amenities Select Committee at its regular meeting in July 1977, and it was agreed to explore further the feasibility of building an indoor ice-skating rink side by side with a swimming pool, the aim being to use heat dissipated by the refrigerating equipment in the skating rink to warm the adjacent swimming pool.

Detailed proposals will be submitted to the Council in due course after the feasibility of this proposal has been examined by the Urban Services and Public Works Department.

DR WONG (in English):-Mr Chairman, can the Council or the department pay a little more attention to the urgent need of such ice skating rinks in Hong Kong? As far as I know, there is only one rink in this colony and the demand is very great. I know that more than 4,000 or 5,000 youngsters go to ice skating rinks in one evening on weekends.

MR HU (in English):-Mr Chairman, I will certainly press the department to speed up their study because I think that this would be greatly appreciated by youngsters in Hong Kong.

MR B. A. BERNACCHI (in English):-Mr Chairman, I rise to ask a supplementary question in two parts:

(a) did not Dr Alison BELL raise this point years ago; and

(b) was not the answer at that time, and in general terms, that proper maintenance of the ice in summer would be unrealistically expensive?

MR HU (in English):-Mr Chairman, about the first question, it was before my time, so I cannot comment. On the second question, there are a lot of ice skating rinks in neighbouring Asian cities and they are all indoor ice skating rinks and they are air-conditioned, so there is no problem in maintaining the ice in good condition.

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MR CHAN CHI-KWAN, PETER (in English): Since this question on ice skating rinks has been discussed in the Recreation and Amenities Select Committee and some suggestion has been raised to study the present commercial ice skating rink existing in Kowloon and study their financial viability so that it would be a guidance for our own official ice skating rink, has the feasibility study been completed or some information be made available to the Committee for consideration?

MR HU (in English):-Mr Chairman, the study team has already studied ice skating rinks and the study proved to be most successful and because of this we are proceeding with the feasibility study.

MR CHAN (in English):-I am asking about the commercial one, I think, the Lai Chi Kok Amusement Park. Mr Chairman, because it is a commercial one, I MR HU (in English):— hate to give comments, but as far as I understand it, attendance is not too satisfactory.

5 MR JOHN MACKENZIE asked the following question (in English): --With reference to recent complaints by residents regarding filthy and insanitary conditions at Aldrich Bay and Tai Hang Tung Estate, may I be informed what action has been taken by U.S.D. to improve conditions in these areas and what further action is proposed?

Do these complaints reflect any general deterioration in standards of environmental hygiene, and are Urban Services District Officers in regular contact with residents' representatives in these or other black-spot areas?

MRS GRACE HO, CHAIRMAN OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):-The first part of this question relates to sanitary conditions at Aldrich Bay and in the Tai Hang Tung Housing Estate. The problem at Aldrich Bay is mainly due to the temporary drainage system which serves the area while reclamation work is in progress. At present, this is a source of complaint as waste water from the Shau Kei Wan area is channelled through the reclamation. I understand that work on the permanent drainage system is due to start in November or December and is likely to take between two to three years to complete. The reclamation itself will require a further six months. Although the reclamation is not under the jurisdiction of the Urban Services Department, District staff keep a careful watch on the position and are in constant touch with both the Public Works Department and the City District Officer. An anti-mosquito gang is deployed in the area and carries out larvicidal oiling twice a week. No mosquito breeding has been detected so far. In the adjacent built-up