1982 — Page 134

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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

MR. YOUNG (in English):-Mr. Chairman, Mrs. ELLIOTT in her fourth part of the question states that the land is required for permanent use in 1984, but Mr. Lo did not refer to this in his answer. If what Mrs. ELLIOTT said is true, it appears that the site might only be used for a few months before it is permanently required. I raise this point to know whether there is any

information to substantiate what Mrs. ELLIOTT states.

MR. Lo (in English):-I cannot say positively when the permanent development will take place. However, I will not be surprised if it was some time after 1984 as it will be a significant time on which football pitches could be used.

MRS. ELLIOTT (in English):---Mr. Chairman, if I may clarify, I think there is going to be a football stadium eventually.

2. MR. SHUM CHOI-SANG asked the following question (in Cantonese):--What improvements will be made to the design of some of the refuse collection points in the Eastern District so as to minimize the nuisance to the local residents of the Eastern District?

DR. DENNY M. H. HUANG, CHAIRMAN OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in Cantonese):-This question concerns improvements in the design of refuse collection points, with particular regard to the Eastern District of Hong Kong.

It has always been the Urban Council's aim to design refuse collection points so as to minimize nuisance to residents living nearby. In the Eastern District, three refuse collection points will shortly be built. These will all be off-street purpose-built structures, fitted with carbon filtration systems to absorb foul odours. It is the policy of the Urban Council to fit such systems to all new refuse collection points and, whenever possible, to existing ones as well. The designs for the refuse collection points in Eastern District are well-advanced and, of course, vary according to the individual sites. The intention is to provide roof- top planting on two of the three under planning (the composite nature of the third precludes this).

On a more general note, on the operational side, the Council is very much alive to the problems connected with refuse collection points and will shortly be undertaking tests of new equipment designed to cut down on noise and exhaust emissions at collection times whilst increasing their capacity.

If successful, this experiment will be extended progressively throughout the urban area.

MR. SHUM (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, according to Dr. HUANG, the refuse collection points will be improved where necessary. May I know which are being considered for improvement in Eastern District?

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DR. HUANG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, the Urban Services Department will be looking into the possibility of installing carbon filtration systems, and proposals will be brought up to the relevant committees for consideration. At the moment, I cannot tell whether this can be done in Eastern District or not, but I will refer this to the U.S.D. for consideration and inform Mr. SHUM of the result.

MR. YOUNG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, can Dr. HUANG tell us how much does a carbon filtration system, fitted to improve a refuse collection point, cost?

DR. HUANG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, the refuse collection points are not at all welcomed by the public, and so we are trying to reduce the number. If each refuse collection point were to have a carbon filtration system, it will cost about $100,000 to $150,000 each, but I think it's worthwhile because the environment is improved for the citizens.

3. DR. KIM Y. S. CHAM asked the following question (in Cantonese):-What plans are there to construct market complexes in the Eastern District to absorb on- street hawkers in the future?

MR. SHUM CHOI-SANG, CHAIRMAN OF THE MARKETS AND STREET TRADERS SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in Cantonese):-This question concerns plans for the construction of market complexes in the Eastern District of Hong Kong for resiting on-street hawkers.

There are, at present 2 035 licensed on-street hawkers in the Eastern District. The Urban Council has plans to resite all but 359 into six new market complexes being built or planned in the district. The 359 will not require to be resited off- street by the nature of their business: they are for the most part newspaper vendors and tradesmen.

Construction work is currently well advanced on two market complexes at Sai Wan Ho and Quarry Bay to replace the existing Sai Wan Ho Temporary Market and the former old Quarry Bay Market. These complexes, which are scheduled for completion in late 1983 and 1984 respectively, will provide a total of 738 market stalls, of which 276 will be available for the resiting of on-street hawkers.

A third market, which is under construction by the private sector, will be handed over to Council for management late this year. This is situated in Electric Road.

Three other Urban Council market projects in the Eastern District are now at various stages of planning and are due to be completed after 1986. They will reprovision the existing Causeway Bay, North Point, and Shau Kei Wan markets, and will provide a total of 2 263 stalls which, apart from resiting existing market stall lessees, will be able to absorb all the remaining 1 400 licensed on-street hawkers in the district.