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DR. HUANG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, as raised by Mr. SULKE, Happy Valley is cleared every time when there is a race-day. However, what we are talking about now is alternate-day clearing when tens of thousands of vehicles would have to be cleared and that would be too large in scope. In foreign countries, say for instance, even in London, I don't think this is feasible. This could be possible perhaps in smaller cities where they have a fixed number of vehicles and a fixed number of car parking spaces. Everybody is aware of the situation, say, Monday you park on this side, and Tuesday, you park on the other side, then this is practicable. However, in such a large city as Hong Kong, especially when the cars are in such large numbers, I think in the foreseeable future, it would be difficult to pursue a policy of alternate-day parking for sweeping.
MR. SULKE (in English):--Mr. Chairman, is he aware that in Tokyo, for instance, which is a much larger city than Hong Kong, this is a common practice and Tokyo has considerably more cars than Hong Kong. Also we are really only requiring roads to be parked alternatively, say, once a week.
DR. HUANG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I am not too clear about the situation in Japan. However, I believe the number of cars, population density etc. in Japan comparatively speaking could be said to be less than Hong Kong, because Hong Kong has a higher density and of course the management of the city as well as the co-operation of the public are important elements in which Hong Kong has a lot to learn. Say, for instance, in Japan, when the traffic light is red, nobody crosses the road. However, in Hong Kong, up till now, I don't think everybody is obeying that regulation. So, I think at present in Hong Kong, if the Police cannot fully participate in such an important campaign as the Clean Hong Kong Campaign, and if we have to ask the Police to tow away several hundred cars on alternate days, I don't think it is possible within the present Police resources, and I think it would be hard to put to practice. I hope Mr. SULKE will pay attention to my last paragraph and that is even though we are using the mechanical sweepers, we find that there are no unacceptable difficulties in cleaning the streets. So it is not absolutely necessary to have alternate-day parking. I hope Mr. SULKE could tolerate the situation for one or two years, and we'll review the situation then.
MR. LAWRENCE H. L. FUNG (in English):-Mr. Chairman, personally, I also support Mr. SULKE's remarks that Tokyo's towing-away service is most effective and in fact, New York's and London's are also very effective. I just wonder if the Chairman of the Environmental Hygiene Select Committee is aware of the fact that some of the towing services have been contracted out to private firms so that Police resources would not be diverted from other responsibilities.
DR. HUANG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I'd like to thank Mr. FUNG for his point. Not only myself, but also each member of the Environmental Hygiene Select Committee is very concerned about this matter. We all hope that we could have mechanical assistance to clean the streets more effectively. As for towing, I know that my own car has also been towed once, however, even though private contractors could go and tow the cars away, the Police had to be informed and in turn to inform their contractors; so the Police had to be involved, and the Police are so busy that they don't want to be involved. In my reply, you'll have noted that the Urban Services Department had tried to liaise with the Police and other relevant authorities and within the past ten years, there have been three such attempts, and all the other authorities seemed reluctant to accept our proposal. I can promise you that in two years' time, I could review the situation again and if possible I will, of course sound out the other authorities.
MR. C. K. CHAN, PETER (in Cantonese):—Is it possible that Dr. HUANG could discuss this matter again in the select committee and perhaps invite representatives from the Police along and you can pick out some streets on an experimental basis, so that cars could be parked on alternate days? Previously, we had problems because cleaning Hong Kong is under the jurisdiction of the Urban Council. However, the present Clean Hong Kong Campaign is greatly supported by the Central Government and perhaps you could try and see whether the Police does support the Central Government as well, and whether more money ought to be spent to support the Keep Hong Kong Clean Campaign. Now, since the opportunity exists, we should try it out if the Commissioner of Police refuses, then he is not only refusing to hear Dr. HUANG or the Environmental Hygiene Select Committee but rather he is turning a deaf ear to the Clean Hong Kong Campaign message of the Hong Kong Government. Perhaps you could look into the matter.
DR. HUANG (in Cantonese):-The Clean Hong Kong Campaign has been with us for 11 years, it is just a change of format at present. Eleven years ago there were thousands of abandoned vehicles on the roads and the Clean Hong Kong Campaign Committee then studied the matter many times and the Chairman then also discussed this matter of abandoned vehicles on the roads. However, since there are several thousands of them and because of the difficulties with the car-crushing plant etc. the Police could not take very much action. However, right now, the Police might be able to assist us to deal with the abandoned vehicles. However, if there are thousands of abandoned vehicles which could not be dealt with at present and you still have to ask the Police to tow away cars on alternate days, I don't think this is possible. Of course, we hope that we could have very great co-operation from the Police, but I don't think this is feasible.
MR. STEPHEN M. L. LAU (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I realize that on both sides of the road, sometimes the road surfaces are under repair and this, of course will deter our efforts in cleaning the streets. I wonder if Dr. HUANG has liaised with the Government department to have the roads repaired?
DR. HUANG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, on the repairing of roads and not the abandoned vehicles issue, I think the Public Works Department seems to
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Page 122 of 146
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DR. HUANG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, as raised by Mr. SULKE, Happy Valley is cleared everytime when there is a race-day. However, what we are talking about now is alternate-day clearing when tens of thousands of vehicles would have to be cleared and that would be too large in scope. In foreign countries, say for instance, even in London, I don't think this is feasible. This could be possible perhaps in smaller cities where they have a fixed number of vehicles and a fixed number of car parking spaces. Everybody is aware of the situation, say, Monday you park on this side, and Tuesday, you park on the other side, then this is practicable. However, in such a large city as Hong Kong, especially when the cars are in such large numbers, I think in the foreseeable future, it would be difficult to pursue a policy of alternate-day parking for sweeping.
MR. SULKE (in English):--Mr. Chairman, is he aware that in Tokyo, for instance, which is a much larger city than Hong Kong, this is a common practice and Tokyo has considerably more cars than Hong Kong. Also we are really only requiring roads to be parked alternatively, say, once a week.
DR. HUANG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I am not too clear about the situation in Japan. However, I believe the number of cars, population density etc. in Japan comparatively speaking could be said to be less than Hong Kong, because Hong Kong has a higher density and of course the management of the city as well as the co-operation of the public are important elements in which Hong Kong has a lot to learn. Say, for instance, in Japan, when the traffic light is red, nobody crosses the road. However, in Hong Kong, up till now, I don't think everybody is obeying that regulation. So, I think at present in Hong Kong, if the Police cannot fully participate in such an important campaign as the Clean Hong Kong Campaign, and if we have to ask the Police to tow away several hundred cars on alternate days, I don't think it is possible within the present Police resources, and I think it would be hard to put to practice. I hope Mr. SULKE will pay attention to my last paragraph and that is even though we are using the mechanical sweepers, we find that there are no unacceptable difficulties in cleaning the streets. So it is not absolutely necessary to have alternate-day parking. I hope Mr. SULKE Could tolerate the situation for one or two years, and we'll review the situation then.
MR. LAWRENCE H. L. FUNG (in English):-Mr. Chairman, personally, I also support Mr. SULKE's remarks that Tokyo's towing-away service is most effective and in fact, New York's and London's are also very effective. I just wonder if the Chairman of the Environmental Hygiene Select Committee is aware of the fact that some of the towing services have been contracted out to private firms so that Police resources would not be diverted from other responsibilities.
DR. HUANG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I'd like to thank Mr. FUNG for his point. Not only myself, but also each member of the Environmental Hygiene Select Committee is very concerned about this matter. We all hope that we could
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have mechanical assistance to clean the streets more effectively. As for towing, I know that my own car has also been towed once, however, even though private contractors could go and tow the cars away, the Police had to be informed and in turn to inform their contractors; so the Police had to be involved, and the Police are so busy that they don't want to be involved. In my reply, you'll have noted that the Urban Services Department had tried to liaise with the Police and other relevant authorities and within the past ten years, there have been three such attempts, and all the other authorities seemed reluctant to accept our proposal. I can promise you that in two years' time, I could review the situation again and if possible I will, of course sound out the other authorities.
MR. C. K. CHAN, PETER (in Cantonese):—Is it possible that Dr. HUANG could discuss this matter again in the select committee and perhaps invite representatives from the Police along and you can pick out some streets on an experimental basis, so that cars could be parked on alternate days? Previously, we had problems because cleaning Hong Kong is under the jurisdiction of the Urban Council. However, the present Clean Hong Kong Campaign is greatly supported by the Central Government and perhaps you could try and see whether the Police does support the Central Government as well, and whether more money ought to be spent to support the Keep Hong Kong Clean Campaign. Now, since the opportunity exists, we should try it out if the Commissioner of Police refuses, then he is not only refusing to hear Dr. HUANG or the Environmental Hygiene Select Committee but rather he is turning a deaf ear to the Clean Hong Kong Campaign message of the Hong Kong Government. Perhaps you could look into the matter.
DR. HUANG (in Cantonese):-The Clean Hong Kong Campaign has been with us for 11 years, it is just a change of format at present. Eleven years ago there were thousands of abandoned vehicles on the roads and the Clean Hong Kong Campaign Committee then studied the matter many times and the Chairman then also discussed this matter of abandoned vehicles on the roads. However, since there are several thousands of them and because of the difficulties with the car-crushing plant etc. the Police could not take very much action. However, right now, the Police might be able to assist us to deal with the abandoned vehicles. However, if there are thousands of abandoned vehicles which could not be dealt with at present and you still have to ask the Police to tow away cars on alternate days, I don't think this is possible. Of course, we hope that we could have very great co-operation from the Police, but I don't think this is feasible.
MR. STEPHEN M. L. LAU (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I realize that on both sides of the road, sometimes the road surfaces are under repair and this, of course will deter our efforts in cleaning the streets. I wonder if Dr. HUANG has liaised with the Government department to have the roads repaired?
DR. HUANG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, on the repairing of roads and not the abandoned vehicles issue, I think the Public Works Department seems to
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