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MR. SULKE (in English):-Mr. Chairman, I will first deal with Dr. HUANG's reply. Hong Kong is the noisiest city in the world. Don't you think that we should lead the way as the Urban Council to show that we can be quieter than the rest of the town, and also are you aware that there are quite a lot of contractors in town who actually have silenced equipment. My estimate is about 30% of the contractors here have silenced equipment, so why don't we insist that they use it.
DR. HUANG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I agree entirely with Mr. SULKE's proposals. Actually during the last meeting of the Environmental Hygiene Select Committee, we have considered this matter and most of us agreed with what Mr. SULKE said. However, the question is, if we make it mandatory, then the cost to be incurred for the construction of projects might be higher. However, bearing that in mind, we will still request people in charge of our works to consider whether it is possible for the Urban Council to take the lead and stipulate that all construction work should be carried out with silenced equipment and we hope that if we have done that, then all Government projects and perhaps private projects as well will follow soon. This is the ideal, and I hope that we can work towards this goal.
MR. SULKE (in English):-I want to ask Mr. LO whether he is aware that Sir Cecil's Ride is a path which the Urban Council has to clear and keep clean, and therefore surely we must also be responsible for the trees and whether he is aware that in fact over 100 trees were cut down and out of these, only 20 were necessary to be cut down.
MR. LO (in English):-Mr. Chairman, certainly, I am afraid that I am not aware of the number of trees cut down and the number that were not necessary to be cut down. As regards the question of jurisdiction, I am informed on investigation that this is not within our jurisdiction and as far as I know, it is only road-side trees that fall within our jurisdiction.
MRS. ELLIOTT (in English):-Mr. Chairman, it may not be within our jurisdiction but since we are interested in making our city green, can we make a protest about it?
MR. LO (in English):-Mr. SULKE's question is in itself a protest.
MR. SULKE (in English):-I would like to support Mrs. ELLIOTT. Could we not make an official protest?
MR. LO (in English):-Mr. Chairman, by all means, I entirely agree with Mr. SULKE.
7.
MISS CECILIA L. Y. YEUNG asked the following question (in Cantonese):- In view of the large number of beach accidents reported at Repulse Bay Beach, I should like to know:-
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(a) Has resanding of Repulse Bay Beach been carried out to improve the present situation of having too many sharp stones?
(b) Is it possible to construct a breakwater at the bay to slow down the carrying away of sands from the beach by destructive waves and strong currents in the long term?
(c) There have been complaints concerning the danger and inconvenience arising from insufficient lighting facilities in the evening at the beach; what necessary actions can be taken to improve the situation?
MR. KENNETH T. C. LO, CHAIRMAN OF THE RECREATION SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):-This question concerns accidents reported at Repulse Bay Beach and it is in three parts.
The first part of the question is whether resanding has been carried out at Repulse Bay Beach. In January this year, the Recreation and Capital Works Select Committees of this Council approved a number of recommendations for the redevelopment of Repulse Bay Beach. These recommendations, which were contained in a study prepared by the Architectural Office of the Building Development Department, included the resanding of the Beach and the relocation of the storm drains running across it. The Building Development Department has subsequently been asked to carry out a feasibility study on the removal of the existing storm drains and their reprovisioning. This work must be carried out before resanding is undertaken and there are no immediate proposals for this though it may be possible at a later stage.
The second part of the question concerns the possible construction of a breakwater. There are no proposals for the construction of such a breakwater at present and further study will be necessary if one is to be built.
The third part of the question concerns lighting. There are at present the usual street lights along Beach Road. There are no lights on the Beach itself and it is not the normal practice to provide them nor has this been considered by the Urban Council. However, the redevelopment of the area behind the Repulse Bay Beach will provide a good opportunity to review the adequacy of the lighting in this area and I will ask the department to ensure that this is done.
MISS YEUNG (in Cantonese):- Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank Mr. LO for his answer which is also divided into three parts. However, for the first part of the question, I would like to know when the storm drains could be relocated, and secondly on the beach itself, could we consider how we can maximize its use so that in the evening people could also swim. If lighting is provided, then of course, this will be better.
MR. LO (in English):-Mr. Chairman, as regards the first part of Miss YEUNG's supplementary, the storm drains re-provisioning is to be carried out by the Building Development Department. We have no indication as to when they will carry this out. I would guess that it would be some years before anything can be
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. SULKE (in English):-Mr. Chairman, I will first deal with Dr. HUANG's reply. Hong Kong is the noisiest city in the world. Don't you think that we should lead the way as the Urban Council to show that we can be quieter than the rest of the town, and also are you aware that there are quite a lot of contractors in town who actually have silenced equipment. My estimate to about 30% of the contractors here have silenced equipment, so why don't we
insist that they use it.
DR. HUANG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I agree entirely with Mr. SULKE'S proposals. Actually during the last meeting of the Environmental Hygiene Select Committee, we have considered this matter and most of us agreed with what Mr. SULKE said. However, the question is, if we make it mandatory, then the cost to be incurred for the construction of projects might be higher. However, bearing that in mind, we will still request people in charge of our works to consider whether it is possible for the Urban Council to take the lead and stipulate that all construction work should be carried out with silenced equipment and we hope that if we have done that, then all Government projects and perhaps private projects as well will follow soon. This is the ideal, and I hope that we can work towards this goal.
MR. SULKE (in English):-I want to ask Mr. LO whether he is aware that Sir Cecil's Ride is a path which the Urban Council has to clear and keep clean, and therefore surely we must also be responsible for the trees and whether he is aware that in fact over 100 trees were cut down and out of these, only 20 were necessary to be cut down.
MR. LO (in English):-Mr. Chairman, certainly, I am afraid that I am not aware of the number of trees cut down and the number that were not necessary to be cut down. As regards the question of jurisdiction, I am informed on investigation that this is not within our jurisdiction and as far as I know, it is only road-side trees that fall within our jurisdiction.
MRS. ELLIOTT (in English):-Mr. Chairman, it may not be within our jurisdic- tion but since we are interested in making our city green, can we make a protest about it?
MR. LO (in English):-Mr. SULKE's question is in itself a protest.
MR. SULKE (in English):—I would like to support Mrs. ELLIOTT. Could we not make an official protest?
MR. LO (in English):—Mr. Chairman, by all means, I entirely agree with Mr. SULKE.
7.
MISS CECILIA L. Y. YEUNG asked the following question (in Cantonese):— In view of the large number of beach accidents reported at Repulse Bay Beach, I should like to know:—
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(a) Has resanding of Repulse Bay Beach been carried out to improve the present
situation of having too many sharp stones?
(b) Is it possible to construct a breakwater at the bay to slow down the carrying away of sands from the beach by destructive waves and strong currents in the
long term?
(c) There have been complaints concerning the danger and inconvenience arising from insufficient lighting facilities in the evening at the beach; what necessary actions can be taken to improve the situation?
MR. KENNETH T. C. LO, CHAIRMAN OF THE RECREATION SELECT COM- MITTEE, replied as follows (in English):-This question concerns accidents reported at Repulse Bay Beach and it is in three parts.
The first part of the question is whether resanding has been carried out at Repulse Bay Beach. In January this year, the Recreation and Capital Works Select Committees of this Council approved a number of recommendations for the redevelopment of Repulse Bay Beach. These recommendations, which were contained in a study prepared by the Architectural Office of the Building Development Department, included the resanding of the Beach and the reloca- tion of the storm drains running across it. The Building Development Depart- ment has subsequently been asked to carry out a feasibility study on the removal of the existing storm drains and their reprovisioning. This work must be carried out before resanding is undertaken and there are no immediate proposals for this though it may be possible at a later stage.
The second part of the question concerns the possible construction of a breakwater. There are no proposals for the construction of such a breakwater at present and further study will be necessary if one is to be built.
The third part of the question concerns lighting. There are at present the usual street lights along Beach Road. There are no lights on the Beach itself and it is not the normal practice to provide them nor has this been considered by the Urban Council. However, the redevelopment of the area behind the Repulse Bay Beach will provide a good opportunity to review the adequacy of the lighting in this area and I will ask the department to ensure that this is done.
MISS YEUNG (in Cantonese):- Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank Mr. LO for his answer which is also divided into three parts. However, for the first part of the question, I would like to know when the storm drains could be relocated, and secondly on the beach itself, could we consider how we can maximize its use so that in the evening people could also swim. If lighting is provided, then of course, this will be better.
MR. LO (in English):—Mr. Chairman, as regards the first part of Miss YEUNG's supplementary, the storm drains re-provisioning is to be carried out by the Building Development Department. We have no indication as to when they will carry this out. I would guess that it would be some years before anything can be
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