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area, the Department deploys Litter Wardens, a Special Cleansing Squad, and a General Duties Team in order to control illegal hawking and to reduce litter.
In the Tai Hang Tung Housing Estate, the sweeping of streets and courtyards, the cleansing of public toilets, the clearance of refuse and junk and the maintenance of refuse collection points are the responsibility of the Housing Department in the same way as in other public housing estates. Complaints received have been referred to the Housing Department for action. The responsibility of the Urban Council is limited to the removal of refuse and junk from refuse collection points. Refuse from the Tai Hang Tung Estate is collected three times a day and removed to the Lai Chi Kok incinerator, and junk is removed every night. The frequency of the collection service provided by the Council and the adequacy of the refuse collection points will be reviewed in consultation with the Housing Department.
The second part of this question raises the point whether conditions in the two locations referred to reflect any general deterioration in standards of environmental hygiene. In the case of Aldrich Bay, the complaints in fact are linked to the current phase of the reclamation work which is taking place, and the problem is a temporary one which will disappear when this work is completed. As far as the Tai Hang Tung Estate is concerned, the problem probably relates to the unusually large amount of refuse and junk which accumulated after the passage of severe tropical storm 'Agnes'.
The last part of the question concerns contacts between the Urban Services District Officers and residents' representatives. The general position is that in all districts, Area Committees and Mutual Aid Committees of Buildings have been formed under the supervision of City District Officers. Both the Area Committees and the Mutual Aid Committees of Buildings have residents' representatives. Regular meetings, usually held monthly, are attended by the chairmen of these Area and Mutual Aid Committees and the Urban Services Officer or his representative in the district. Regular contact is therefore maintained between USD district staff on the one hand and committee members who represent the residents on the other. It has also been the practice for USD staff to give talks on health matters to members of Areas or Mutual Aid Committees from time to time.
MR B. A. BERNACCHI (in English):—Mr Chairman, the second paragraph of Mrs HO's answer brings out a question of cooperation between the Urban Services and the Housing Departments, I would like to ask if this cooperation is working satisfactorily?
MRS HO (in English):--Mr Chairman, I think MR BERNACCHI, who is a Member of the Housing Board, is probably aware of the situation that there is no lack of cooperation between the Urban Services Department and the Housing Department, but the main complaints received seem to be on the collection service. There are refuse collection chambers within the estates and the Housing Authority employs private contractors to clean up the rubbish from the chambers, and it is when they clean up and they start rotting up the rubbish, it spreads over a wide area and it takes some time. I think that is the basis. I may be wrong, but I think that may be the basis of complaints.
MR JOHN MACKENZIE asked the following question (in English): --Is the USD aware of any wide-spread sub-letting or illegal sales of licensed hawker stalls in the Urban areas? How many cases have been uncovered in recent years, and how many cases are under investigation?
MR SHUM CHOI-SANG, CHAIRMAN OF THE STREET TRADERS SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in Cantonese):-This question refers to the illegal sale and subletting of licensed hawker stalls.
There is very little overt sale or subletting of stalls and this is to be expected because, under the Council's present policy, the transfer of hawker licences is not allowed. By-law 13 of the Hawker By-laws states expressly that any such transfer or purported transfer is of no effect. The only exceptions to this rule are that succession to a hawker licence, which, in effect, means the cancellation of an existing licence and the issue of a new one, is allowed in the case of the widow or widower on the death of a licensee. Succession is also allowed in the case of an assistant who was genuinely operating a stall when the licensee died. However, there are probably many cases where sale or subletting takes place under cover though this is difficult to prove. In such cases, the licensee normally continues to attend the stall from time to time although in fact, its management has been taken over by some other person working in the guise of an assistant or an employee. Where definite evidence of such an unauthorized transfer can be found, the Council does take action. The stall in question is kept under observation for a period and the licensee, if he is not attending the stall in person, is advised that he should do so. If this warning is ignored, the Department recommends to the Delegated Member concerned that the licence should be cancelled.
In the past two years, 32 licences have been cancelled because the licensee was not operating a stall himself or had sublet it. In addition, 150 stalls are under observation, i.e., just over 1% of the total number of licensed fixed pitch stalls.
MR B. A. BERNACCHI (in English):-I would like to ask the Chairman of the Street Traders Select Committee whether a number of reports on subletting are by sub-licensees whose sub-licences or sub-tenancies are being terminated by this Council's own licensees, and if so, what is the Council's present attitude in these types of cases, i.e., do nothing, cancel, or cancel the, in fact, landlord's licence and grant it to the sub-tenant or the operator?
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area, the Department deploys Litter Wardens, a Special Cleansing Squad, and a General Duties Team in order to control illegal hawking and to
reduce litter.
In the Tai Hang Tung Housing Estate, the sweeping of streets and court- yards, the cleansing of public toilets, the clearance of refuse and junk and the maintenance of refuse collection points are the responsibility of the Housing Department in the same way as in other public housing estates. Complaints received have been referred to the Housing Department for action. The responsibility of the Urban Council is limited to the removal of refuse and junk from refuse collection points. Refuse from the Tai Hang Tung Estate is collected three times a day and removed to the Lai Chi Kok incinerator, and junk is removed every night. The frequency of the collection service provided by the Council and the adequacy of the refuse collection points will be reviewed in consultation with the Housing Department.
The second part of this question raises the point whether conditions in the two location referred to reflect any general deterioration in standards of environmental hygiene. In the case of Aldrich Bay, the complaints in fact are linked to the current phase of the reclamation work which is taking place, and the problem is a temporary one which will disappear when this work is completed. As far as the Tai Hang Tung Estate is concerned, the problem probably relates to the unusually large amount of refuse and junk which accumulated after the passage of severe tropical storm 'Agnes'.
The last part of the question concerns contacts between the Urban Services District Officers and residents' representatives. The general position is that in all districts, Area Committees and Mutual Aid Committees of Buildings have been formed under the supervision of City District Officers. Both the Area Committees and the Mutual Aid Committees of Buildings have residents' representatives. Regular meetings, usually held monthly, are attended by the chairmen of these Area and Mutual Aid Committees and the Urban Services Officer or his representative in the district. Regular contact is therefore maintained between USD district staff on the one hand and committee members who represent the residents on the other. It has also been the practice for USD staff to give talks on health matters to members of Areas or Mutual Aid Committees from time to time.
MR B. A. BERNACCHI (in English):—Mr Chairman, the second paragraph of Mrs HO's answer brings out a question of cooperation between the Urban Services and the Housing Departments, I would like to ask if this cooperation is working satisfactorily?
MRS HO (in English):--Mr Chairman, I think Mr BERNACCHI, who is a Member of the Housing Board, is probably aware of the situation that there is no lack of cooperation between the Urban Services Department and the! Housing Department, but the main complaints received seem to be on the
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
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collection service. There are refuse collection chambers within the estates and the Housing Authority employs private contractors to clean up the rubbish from the chambers, and it is when they clean up and they start rotting up the rubbish, it spreads over a wide area and it takes some time. I think that is the basis. I may be wrong, but I think that may be the basis
of complaints.
6 MR JOHN MACKENZIE asked the following question (in English): --Is the USD aware of any wide-spread sub-letting or illegal sales of licensed hawker stalls in the Urban areas? How many cases have been uncovered in recent years, and how many cases are under investigation?
MR SHUM CHOI-SANG, CHAIRMAN OF THE STREET TRADERS SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in Cantonese):-This question refers to the illegal sale and subletting of licensed hawker stalls.
There is very little overt sale or subletting of stalls and this is to be expected because, under the Council's present policy, the transfer of hawker licences is not allowed. By-law 13 of the Hawker By-laws states expressly that any such transfer or purported transfer is of no effect. The only excep- tions to this rule are that succession to a hawker licence, which, in effect, means the cancellation of an existing licence and the issue of a new one, is allowed in the case of the widow or widower on the death of a licensee. Succession is also allowed in the case of an assistant who was genuinely operating a stall when the licensee died. However, there are probably many cases where sale or subletting takes place under cover though this is difficult to prove. In such cases, the licensee normally continues to attend the stall from time to time although in fact, its management has been taken over by some other person working in the guise of an assistant or an employee. Where definite evidence of such an unauthorized transfer can be found, the Council does take action. The stall in question is kept under observation for a period and the licensee, if he is not attending the stall in person, is advised that he should do so. If this warning is ignored, the Department recommands to the Delegated Member concerned that the licence should be cancelled.
In the past two years, 32 licences have been cancelled because the licensee was not operating a stall himself or had sublet it. In addition, 150 stalls are under observation, ie, just over 1% of the total number of licensed fixed pitch stalls.
MR B. A. BERNACCHI (in English):-I would like to ask the Chairman of the Street Traders Select Committee whether a number of reports on subletting are by sub-licensees whose sub-licences or sub-tenancies are being terminated by this Council's own licensees, and if so, what is the Council's present attitude in these types of cases, ie do nothing, cancel, or cancel the, in fact, landlord's licence and grant it to the sub-tenant or the operator?
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