HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Notwithstanding what I have already said, the matter in fact was raised under 'Any Other Business' at the last meeting of the Standing Committee of the Whole Council and from the views expressed then I consider that even had the owners of the Hong Kong Club offered Council the building in exchange for a piece of the precious open space in Chater Garden, this would not have found favour with the great majority of the Councillors. The question is, however, academic as the Hong Kong Club Building is already in the hands of the demolition contractors.
MRS. ELLIOTT (in English):—Mr. Chairman, since the Chairman of the committee concerned has just claimed that the matter is outside the jurisdiction of the Urban Council, could you explain why a reply was sent to those organizations, saying that the matter had been discussed by the Urban Council and rejected?
MR. Lo (in English):—Mr. Chairman, perhaps Mrs. ELLIOTT could draw my attention to the letter or the paragraph in the letter in which this was as stated.
MRS. ELLIOTT (in English):—Mr. Chairman, I have already sent the letter to everyone, and I presume Mr. Lo has the letter, but if he hasn't I'll give him another copy. May I ask one other question?
MR. Lo (in English):—Mr. Chairman, may I raise a point of clarification, I do have the letter but I don't have the paragraph stated by Mrs. ELLIOTT.
MRS. ELLIOTT (in English):—Alright, I'll point it out to you.
CHAIRMAN (in English):—Perhaps I might point out that, it was not a letter from the Urban Council; I think it was from another body.
MRS. ELLIOTT (in English):—May I ask another question, Mr. Chairman? May I ask, could in future a reply not be made in the name of the Urban Council unless the Urban Council has been consulted? (Pause) I don't know who's going to answer but I think it is very important.
MR. Lo (in English):—I am sure I don't know who's going to answer it but not the Chairman of the Recreation Select Committee.
MRS. ELLIOTT (in English):—May I ask you, Mr. Chairman, that replies, I think has been done before, but not by you, I think it has been done before the replies have been sent in the name of the Urban Council, I'd like to be sure that it will not happen again.
MR. CHAN CHI-KWAN (in English):—Mr. Chairman, can you confirm that the Director of Urban Services is also the Chairman of a certain antiquities committee or something like that. When he replied to anybody he was replying in that capacity and in that capacity he is not under the jurisdiction of the Urban Council. Can you confirm that is the situation?
CHAIRMAN (in English):—I believe that is correct.
MRS. ELLIOTT (in English):—Mr. Chairman, in that case, shouldn't he reply as the Director of Urban Services or even as the Antiquities Board, but he should not reply on behalf of the Urban Council as obtains in this case.
CHAIRMAN (in English):—As I understand it correctly, Mrs. ELLIOTT, the letter you referred to was not written on behalf of the Urban Council.
MRS. ELLIOTT (in English):—I'd like you to check up, Mr. Chairman, if you don't mind. But the Urban Council's name was used as if the Urban Council had discussed the matter at the time.
CHAIRMAN (in English):—Perhaps reference was made but I am certain that the reply was not made on behalf of the Urban Council.
2. MR. HOWARD H. W. YOUNG asked the following question (in English):— (a) In view of the recent court case involving the Council's liability for damages due to a person sustaining injury in a public toilet, what steps can the Council take to help prevent similar incidents in future?
(b) Is there any difference in the type of flooring being put down in new and renovated toilets and the type used in older toilets?
DR. DENNY M. H. HUANG, Chairman of THE ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in Cantonese):—This question concerns the steps being taken to help prevent persons sustaining injury in a public toilet due to wet floors and whether there is any difference in the type of flooring being used in new and renovated toilets compared to the older toilets.
In answer to the first part of the question, there are a number of reasons for the floors of toilets being wet from time to time. Firstly, they are washed down at regular intervals by the staff and the period it takes to dry depends to a large extent on the level of humidity at the time. The staff are under instruction to dry mop the floors in order to reduce the drying time to a minimum. On wet days, the users themselves bring water in on their shoes which together with condensation due to the humidity results in wet floors, particularly near the entrances. Regrettably, not all visitors of public toilets are considerate when using the wash basins, and water is splashed on to the floor in their vicinity.
It is an on-going task to keep public toilets both clean and the floors dry and the staff who perform this work do not have very pleasant jobs. They have however been reminded of the need to ensure that the risks to the public are kept to an absolute minimum and are under instructions to put up notices advising the public when the floors are wet as a result of washing down.
Further steps are being taken to ensure that the lighting in public toilets, which should be at 150 lux, is adequate.
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Notwithstanding what I have already said, the matter in fact was raised under 'Any Other Business' at the last meeting of the Standing Committee of the Whole Council and from the views expressed then I consider that even had the owners of the Hong Kong Club offered Council the building in exchange for a piece of the precious open space in Chater Garden, this would not have found favour with the great majority of the Councillors. The question is, however, academic as the Hong Kong Club Building is already in the hands of the demolition contractors.
MRS. ELLIOTT (in English):—Mr. Chairman, since the Chairman of the committee concerned has just claimed that the matter is outside the jurisdiction of the Urban Council, could you explain why a reply was sent to those organizations, saying that the matter had been discussed by the Urban Council and rejected?
MR. Lo (in English):—Mr. Chairman, perhaps Mrs. ELLIOTT could draw my attention to the letter or the paragraph in the letter in which this was as stated.
MRS. ELLIOTT (in English):—Mr. Chairman, I have already sent the letter to everyone, and I presume Mr. Lo has the letter, but if he hasn't I'll give him another copy. May I ask one other question?
MR. Lo (in English):—Mr. Chairman, may I raise a point of clarification, I do have the letter but I don't have the paragraph stated by Mrs. ELLIOTT.
MRS. ELLIOTT (in English):—Alright, I'll point it out to you.
CHAIRMAN (in English):-Perhaps I might point out that, it was not a letter from the urban Council; I think it was from another body.
MRS. ELLIOTT (in English):—May I ask another question, Mr. Chairman? May I ask, could in future a reply not be made in the name of the Urban Council unless the Urban Council has been consulted? (Pause) I don't know who's going to answer but I think it is very important.
MR. Lo (in English):-I am sure I don't know who's going to answer it but not the Chairman of the Recreation Select Committee.
MRS. ELLIOTT (in English):-May I ask you, Mr. Chairman, that replies, I think has been done before, but not by you, I think it has been done before the replies have been sent in the name of the Urban Council, I'd like to be sure that it will not happen again.
MR. CHAN CHI-KWAN (in English):—Mr. Chairman, can you confirm that the Director of Urban Services is also the Chairman of a certain antiquities committee or something like that. When he replied to anybody he was replying in that capacity and in that capacity he is not under the jurisdiction of the Urban Council. Can you confirm that is the situation?
CHAIRMAN (in English):—I believe that is correct.
MRS. ELLIOTT (in English):—Mr. Chairman, in that case, shouldn't he reply as the Director of Urban Services or even as the Antiquities Board, but he should not reply on behalf of the Urban Council as obtains in this case.
CHAIRMAN (in English):—As I understand it correctly, Mrs. ELLIOTT, the letter you referred to was not written on behalf of the Urban Council.
MRS. ELLIOTT (in English):—I'd like you to check up, Mr. Chairman, if you don't mind. But the Urban Council's name was used as if the Urban Council had discussed the matter at the time.
CHAIRMAN (in English):-Perhaps reference was made but I am certain that the reply was not made on behalf of the Urban Council.
2. MR. HOWARD H. W. YOUNG asked the following question (in English):— (a) In view of the recent court case involving the Council's liability for damages due to a person sustaining injury in a public toilet, what steps can the Council take to help prevent similar incidents in future?
(b) Is there any difference in the type of flooring being put down in new and
renovated toilets and the type used in older toilets?
DR. DENNY M. H. HAUNG, Chairman of THE ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in Cantonese):---This question concerns the steps being taken to help prevent persons sustaining injury in a public toilet due to wet floors and whether there is any difference in the type of flooring being used in new and renovated toilets compared to the older toilets.
In answer to the first part of the question, there are a number of reasons for the floors of toilets being wet from time to time. Firstly, they are washed down at regular intervals by the staff and the period it takes to dry depends to a large extent on the level of humidity at the time. The staff are under instruction to dry mop the floors in order to reduce the drying time to a minimum. On wet days, the users themselves bring water in on their shoes which together with condensation due to the humidity results in wet floors, particularly near the entrances. Regrettably, not all visitors of public toilets are considerate when using the wash basins, and water is splashed on to the floor in their vicinity.
It is an on-going task to keep public toilets both clean and the floors dry and the staff who perform this work do not have very pleasant jobs. They have however been reminded of the need to ensure that the risks to the public are kept to an absolute minimum and are under instructions to put up notices advising the public when the floors are wet as a result of washing down.
Further steps are being taken to ensure that the lighting in public toilets, which should be at 150 lux, is adequate.
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