1980 — Page 114

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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

There are two parts to Sir Cecil's Ride. The first part runs from Wong Nai Chung Gap to a point on Mount Butler Road above Jardine's Lookout. The second part goes from Mount Butler Road near the Cable and Wireless Radio Station, round Braemar Hill to Mount Parker Road above Quarry Bay. As far as the first section of the path is concerned, all but a few hundred yards close to Wong Nai Chung Gap lie within the Tai Tam Country Park; cleansing of this part of the Ride is the responsibility of the Country Parks Authority. As regards the second part of the path, about one half of this from the Cable and Wireless Radio Station end to just above Braemar Hill Road is the Urban Council's responsibility, and the remainder lies in the Quarry Bay Extension of the Tai Tam Country Park.

There is a split responsibility for cleansing the path. However, the Depart- ment has already taken action on the most heavily used portion of the path and thus the most heavily littered portion and the joint operation with the Agriculture and Fisheries Department to clean up the whole path will take place in the near future. The state of the path within the Council's responsibility will be regularly monitored.

DR. HU (in English):-Mr. Chairman, may I ask Mrs. Ho, when in the near future, will the path be cleared. Two or three months later or what?

MRS. Ho (in English):-Mr. Chairman, I'd rather anticipated this supple- mentary question, but I am told that the two departments are now getting together. They are not able to give me a date but we will press them to do so.

2. DR. THE HON. HENRY HU asked the following question (in English):— I am aware that Members of the Computerization Sub-Committee of the Administration Select Committee have been working hard for some time, and I should be grateful to know what plans they have in hand for computerizing the Council's activities?

DR. KIM Y. S. CHAM, CHAIRMAN OF THE ADMINISTATION SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):-This question concerns the Council's plans for computerizing its activities.

The Computerization Sub-Committee of the Administration Select Com- mittee has been examining the Council's needs in the field of data-processing for several months and a great deal of preliminary planning has already been done. This includes future strategies, the organization of an electronic data- processing unit, staff requirements, computer requirements, and accommoda- tion.

After a preliminary study, the Council has agreed in principle that the sale of tickets for the Council's cultural and sports events should be given top priority. The computerization of library services and the administrative func- tions of the Council should be dealt with concurrently as a lower priority.

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Apart from these three major projects, the Council has also identified an urgent but less complex project which requires immediate attention, namely, the computerization of the Council's accounting and budgetary control func- tions. This particular project is expected to be completed by the end of 1981 by which time it is hoped that a small computer will have replaced the elderly accounting machines now in use in the Accounts and Supplies Section of the Urban Services Department.

The computerized ticket system, owing to its complexity, will take longer to install and it is not expected that it will be commissioned until the third quarter of 1982.

As soon as these two projects are well under way, the Computerization Sub-Committee will start looking at the computerization of library services and administrative functions such as licensing.

The computerization of the Council's libraries poses several problems of which the biggest is probably the number of Chinese books to be processed. For this reason, it is the Council's intention that libraries should be com- puterized by stages over a period of years. A detailed analysis of the require- ments of a library computerization system will be conducted later this year.

Feasibility studies for the computerization of the Council's administrative functions will also be conducted later this year. These studies will cover such areas as the issue and control of licences and permits; market stall rentals and demand notes; abattoir activities; records of litter offences; the booking of recreational facilities; the processing of hawker licences and records; vehicle maintenance records and personnel records; and any other areas where there is a need for computerization.

DR. HU (in English):—Mr. Chairman, may I ask Dr. CHAM, did the Sub- Committee consider any question concerning the costs of computerization?

DR. CHAM (in English): -Mr. Chairman, the Computerization Sub-Committee considered the problem in totality, that is considering costs, staff, as well as accommodation and all other implications. I'm afraid at this moment I am not prepared to give Dr. Hu the estimates we intend to spend in view of tenders going out very shortly. In order to preserve Council's position, it is not the opportune time to reveal such figures. Nevertheless, the Committee did go through, in great detail, the figures and estimates.

MR. HOWARD YOUNG (in English):—Mr. Chairman, as it appears that there were three different areas competing for computerization, in otherwords, ticketing, libraries, and administration, is it possible to tell us whether there was any particular reason why one was accorded a higher priority other than the other two?