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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

MR TSIN (in Cantonese):-Talking about the City Hall or the swimming pool complexes of the USD, these are staff by Amenity Officers and Clerical Assistants, but the Entertainments Sub-Committee and the Cultural Affairs Select Committee feel that Clerical Assistants can replace Amenities Officers and so in the not too distant future, in the Booking Office or the swimming pool complexes, they will serve that purpose. Of course, in principle, the USD would not object to the idea of using disabled persons to do clerical work which normally includes ticket selling, fee collection, or manning of the collection tolls at the entrance of swimming pools, or they are responsible

for delivering the money collected to the officer in-charge. Owing to the type

of work, some more seriously disabled people may not be too suitable for that kind of work because if their disability is too severe, suppose they cannot move both their limbs, they cannot operate the toll, or if they cannot move their two hands freely, they cannot collect fees or they cannot sell tickets. If they are blind or if they are deaf, they would not be able to answer any questions raised by the citizens and that is the reason why the City Hall Box Office would consider individual cases and on top of that, if they are supposed to handle a huge amount of money, that would have certain ill effects and so we would consider all these circumstances.

MR YOUNG (in English):--What about employing blind people to man some of the switch boards which may come within the jurisdiction of the Council?

MR TSIN (in Cantonese):—I do not quite follow Mr Young but I understand most of the blind people are engaged in telephone operation work as telephone operators. I think we have to find which type of work is most suitable for them.

MRS GRACE Ho (in Cantonese):—Mr Chairman, since there are already 153 disabled persons employed by the USD, do we have any special facilities to facilitate their work?

MR TSIN (in Cantonese):-In the present circumstances, I know of nothing as regards the kind of special facilities for disabled persons employed by the USD, but I am sure that if such a need arises, we would give it serious con- sideration in similar lines as other Government departments.

3 THE HONOURABLE HILTON CHEONG-LEEN asked the following question (in English):-When will it be possible to open Urban Council public libraries all day during Sundays and public holidays to meet the needs of the residents of each particular district concerned?

MRS E. ELLIOTT, CHAIRMAN OF THE LIBRARIES SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):-The question deals with the opening hours of the Council's public libraries on Sundays and public holidays.

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At present, all Council libraries are open up to 1pm on Sundays and public holidays while the new Mei Foo Sun Chuen Library is open up to 5pm.

The extended opening hours of the Mei Foo Sun Chuen Library are intended as an experiment, and the question of extending Sunday and holiday opening hours in other Council libraries will be reviewed by the Libraries Select Committee in April 1979, that is, six months after the opening of the new Mei Foo Sun Chuen Library. In this connection, factors like library usage, cost-effectiveness, staff strength and staff deployment will have to be

taken into consideration.

MR CHEONG-LEEN (in English):---Mr Chairman, are there other libraries in areas, which because of geographic or population factors, can be open full days on Sundays and on public holidays apart from the Mei Foo Sun Chuen

Library?

MRS ELLIOTT (in English):-Mr Chairman, if we find that the Mei Foo Sun Chuen Library is necessary on Sundays, we shall consider opening other libraries in 7 districts for the same length of time.

MOTIONS

1 MRS GRACE HO, CHAIRMAN OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE SELECT COMMITTEE, moved the following motion:-RESOLVED that the Cremation and Gardens of Remembrance (Amendment) By-laws 1978 be made under section 124E of the Public Health and Urban Services Ordinance, Cap. 132.' She said (in English):—As the Chairman of the Environmental Hygiene Select Committee, I rise on the motion standing in my name:

"That the Cremation and Gardens of Remembrance (Amendment) By-laws 1978 be made under section 124E of the Public Health and Urban Services Ordinance, Cap. 132.'

The purpose of the proposed amendments is to prescribe fees for the placing of ashes in family niches in a public columbarium, and to revise the period for which ashes may be retained free of charge at a crematorium managed by the Council to two months.

Standard niches hold two cinerary urns. The new family niches will hold four such urns. This is to allow the ashes of deceased family members to be placed in the same niche close together and to facilitate family visiting during the Ching Ming and Chung Yeung Festivals.

The proposed charge for a family niche is set at $2,000 as against $500 for a standard niche, in order to discourage people from taking more space

than necessary.