Page 38
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
that we would not impose too many conditions on the factory operators. I hope that the points raised by Mrs. ELLIOTT and Dr. HUANG could be looked into by the Council.
MR. TSIN SAI-NIN (in Cantonese): --Mr. Chairman, I agree that in principle we should support that there should be a workers' canteen inside a factory, whether it is on the ground floor or any other floors, but I do not agree that the motion puts the workers' canteen into the room of general restaurant because when the by-laws are passed, it will not be as simple as Mr. LAU suggested that we can solve any problem by understanding. Law is law. We cannot solve the problems just by understanding, so I think the matter should be referred back to the Select Committee for re-consideration. I support the motion by Mrs. ELLIOTT that it should be re-considered.
MR. AUGUSTINE S. K. CHUNG (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, on the amendment of Food Business By-law, I supported it in the Select Committee meeting. Firstly, some of the present factory canteens are not well equipped because they are not sure whether they are legal or illegal, so that they would not put in too much money. Their canteens should have proper equipment, but if they should be declared illegal, they would have wasted all their money spent. If we can give them a legal licence or legal status, I think they would and should put more money for cooking and the canteen itself. Secondly, some factories are not willing to lay aside money for the canteen because they would not like to invest in that respect. They have some kind of small size kitchen to supply them food. If one of those kitchens can supply food to, say, a whole factory building, they can consider setting up a workers' canteen because in the past there can only be one canteen in one factory and the canteen cannot serve workers from other factories, so they have not enough business to support the canteen. Now when the by-laws are amended the canteen in a factory building can serve many factories. If they can have a larger scale canteen, I am sure they are willing to invest more to supply hygienic food. I think we must give a legal status to those canteens. If we do not license them, we have no legal right to inspect and to prosecute those canteens. If we should provide more hygienic and better food to the workers in Hong Kong, we must have this licensing procedure. I think the most important point is that most industrialists understand that the system is actually a protection because if the food hygiene standard is good, it would ensure that the workers will not be away from work because of food poisoning. In the Kwun Tong food poisoning case when the workers were affected, more than half of the workers were unable to work, so that we can bring down the loss of man-days for the industrialists. The industrialists do agree in principle to the amendments. The point they raised was that the application procedures should be relaxed and under the circumstances, I agree to the amendments.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Page 38 of 120
DR. HUANG (in English): Our Health Inspectors can and will inspect those canteens not like Mr. CHUNG said that they could not call there. They do. They make monthly visits.
CHAIRMAN (in English):—Thank you.
MRS. GRACE HO (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, when we discussed this matter in the Standing Committee of the Whole Council, the most important point to me was for the past years under our by-laws a factory canteen could only serve food to its own workers and not to other workers. As Mr. LAU has just mentioned, a lot of factories in Hong Kong are medium or small size factories. He has also mentioned that there are some 900,000 workers but the factory canteens can only serve some 30,000 workers, so that the workers would have to go to the cooked food stalls or unlicensed hawkers. We do not want to control the industrialists by this amendment. If the factories in a single factory building can join together to provide a workers' canteen, it will be good for all concerned. Therefore, I support the amendments and we must try them because we have failed in the past.
MR. CHAN CHI-KWAN (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, I believe that the proposed amendments would bring about a lot of oppositions mainly because from the point of view of the Government or the U.S.D., the impression we gave to the public was when we say that to issue a licence is to help improve the public hygiene, the public reaction would be that our issue of a licence is to disturb them. As Dr. HUANG has said, 39 conditions must be complied with. If one condition is not complied with, the issue of a licence would be deferred for a few months, so when people hear that a licence would have to be applied for, they would be very frightened, so it leads to such organizations as the C.M.A. says that if a licence will have to be applied, they might as well close the factory canteen. When many people hear about the application of a licence they are frightened and are deterred. We cannot deny the fact that workers in the industrial areas would need to have lunches and there are insufficient restaurants and food premises for them to have lunches, so many have to frequent cooked food stalls and the unlicensed food hawkers. The original intention was that factory buildings can have their own food premises and has not limited workers in a particular factory, but after we have passed the condition for a licence and stipulated the 39 conditions which have to be complied with in total, will we not frighten the public? In the past, our licensing procedure caused a lot of inconvenience to people concerned, but if the U.S.D. really comply with principles already set down, to really assist people who intend to operate such food premises in a factory, to facilitate and to expedite their licensing procedure, I believe this is to be welcome. If we are to insist on bureaucratic attitudes faced by the public in the past, if we are to insist on red tape and insist on months of application, then I am sure many councillors and industrialists would object to the issue of a licence to control the situation and their objection
Page 38 of 120
Page 38 of 12
Page 38 01 120
44
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
that we would not impose too many conditions on the factory operators. I hope that the points raised by Mrs. ELLIOTT and Dr. HUANG could be looked into by the Council.
MR. TSIN SAI-NIN (in Cantonese): --Mr. Chairman, I agree that in principle we should support that there should be a workers' canteen inside a factory, whether it is on the ground floor or any other floors, but I do not agree that the motion puts the workers' canteen into the room of general restaurant because when the by-laws are passed, it will not be as simple as Mr. LAU suggested that we can solve any problem by understanding. Law is law. We cannot solve the problems just by understanding, so I think the matter should be referred back to the Select Committee for re-consideration. I support the motion by Mrs. ELLIOTT that it should be re-considered.
MR. AUGUSTINE S. K. CHUNG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, on the amendment of Food Business By-law, I supported it in the Select Committee meeting. Firstly, some of the present factory canteens are not well equipped because they are not sure whether they are legal or illegal, so that they would not put in too much money. Their canteens should have proper equipment, but if they should be declared illegal, they would have wasted all their money spent. If we can give them a legal licence or legal status, I think they would and should put more money for cooking and the canteen itself. Secondly, some factories are not willing to lay aside money for the canteen because they would not like to invest in that respect. They have some kind of small size kitchen to supply them food. If one of those kitchens can supply food to, say, a whole factory building, they can consider setting up a workers' canteen because in the past there can only be one canteen in one factory and the canteen cannot serve workers from other factories, so they have not enough business to support the canteen. Now when the by-laws are amended the canteen in a factory building can serve many factories. If they can have a larger scale canteen, I am sure they are willing to invest more to supply hygienic food. I think we must give a legal status to those canteens. If we do not license them, we have no legal right to inspect and to prosecute those canteens. If we should provide more hygienic and better food to the workers in Hong Kong, we must have this licensing procedure. I think the most important point is that most industrialists understand that the system is actually a protection because if the food hygiene standard is good, it would ensure that the workers will not be away from work because of food poisoning. In the Kwun Tong food poisoning case when the workers were affected, more than half of the workers were unable to work, so that we can bring down the loss of man-days for the industrialists. The industrialists do agree in principle to the amendments. The point they raised was that the application procedures should be relaxed and under the circumstances, I agree to the amendments.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Page 38 of 120
45
DR. HUANG (in English): Our Health Inspectors can and will inspect those canteens not like Mr. CHUNG said that they could not call there. They do. They make monthly visits.
CHAIRMAN (in English):-Thank you.
MRS. GRACE HO (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, when we discussed this matter in the Standing Committee of the Whole Council, the most important point to me was for the past years under our by-laws a factory canteen could only serve food to its own workers and not to other workers. As Mr. LAU has just mentioned, a lot of factories in Hong Kong are medium or small size factories. He has also mentioned that there are some 900,000 workers but the factory canteens can only serve some 30,000 workers, so that the workers would have to go to the cooked food stalls or unlicensed hawkers. We do not want to control the industrialists by this amendment. If the factories in a single factory building can join together to provide a workers' canteen, it will be good for all concerned. Therefore, I support the amendments and we must try them because we have failed in the past.
MR. CHAN CHI-KWAN (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I believe that the proposed amendments would bring about a lot of oppositions mainly because from the point of view of the Government or the U.S.D., the impression we gave to the public was when we say that to issue a licence is to help improve the public hygiene, the public reaction would be that our issue of a licence is to disturb them. As Dr. HUANG has said, 39 conditions must be complied with. If one condition is not complied with, the issue of a licence would be deferred for a few months, so when people hear that a licence would have to be applied for, they would be very frightened, so it leads to such organiza- tions as the C.M.A. says that if a licence will have to be applied, they might as well close the factory canteen. When many people hear about the applica- tion of a licence they are frightened and are deterred. We cannot deny the fact that workers in the industrial areas would need to have lunches and there are insufficient restaurants and food premises for them to have lunches, so many have to frequent cooked food stalls and the unlicensed food hawkers. The original intention was that factory buildings can have their own food premises and has not limited workers in a particular factory, but after we have passed the condition for a licence and stipulated the 39 conditions which have to be complied with in total, will we not frighten the public? In the past, our licensing procedure caused a lot of inconvenience to people concerned, but if the U.S.D. really comply with principles already set down, to really assist people who intend to operate such food premises in a factory, to facilitate and to expedite their licensing procedure, I believe this is to be welcome. If we are to insist on bureaucratic attitudes faced by the public in the past, if we are to insist on red tape and insist on months of application, then I am sure many councillors and industrialists would object to the issue of a licence to control the situation and their objection
Page 38 of 120
Page 38 of 12
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.