1983 — Page 39

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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

MR. EDMUND W. H. CHOW, CHAIRMAN OF THE DISTRICT RELATIONS SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in Cantonese):- This question concerns Urban Council's participation in district activities, particularly district arts and sports festivals organized by the District Boards.

It is the Urban Council's policy to give full support to district cultural, entertainment and sports programmes, whenever so requested by the District Boards. The Council has also sought the participation of the District Boards in its territory-wide events such as the Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival and the Centenary Carnival.

In the main, Council's participation in district festivals takes the form of contributions in kind, in the form of advice and assistance in organizing the events, making available suitable Council's venues free of charge, and contributing performances for the festival. Occasionally, small financial subsidies are also made available.

Last year, the Council participated in the Kwun Tong Arts Festival, the Kowloon City Festival, the inter-district competition between Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok, and also worked closely with the District Boards in organizing the Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival. This year, it is expected that the Council will be invited to participate in eight district arts or sports festivals at Yau Ma Tei/Mong Kok, Wan Chai, Wong Tai Sin, Southern, Kwun Tong, Central and Western and Sham Shui Po.

In addition, the Council will organize joint presentations with local district organizations, for example, an exhibition of ceramics, to be held at the Urban Council Aberdeen Complex as an opening event, and will continue to organize a wide variety of entertainment, recreational and sports activities in the district, as part of the on-going year-round programme of activities.

With the operational aspects of the Urban Council activities being mostly run on a District basis, there is much scope for participation and mutual support between local organizations and the Council in its day-to-day work such as cleansing, hawker control and so forth - and the better the liaison between us, the better we will be able to understand each other's needs, problems and aspirations; the greater also the success of our endeavours.

MOTIONS

1. MR. E. ELLIOTT, Chairman OF THE LIBRARIES SELECT COMMITTEE, moved the following motion:-

'RESOLVED that the Public Health and Urban Services (Designation of Libraries) (No. 2) Order 1983 be made under section 105K of the Public Health and Urban Services Ordinance, Cap. 132.'

HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

She said (in English):— Mr. Chairman, I rise to move the motion standing in my name:-

'THAT the Public Health and Urban Services (Designation of Libraries) (No. 2) Order 1983 be made under section 105K of the Public Health and Urban Services Ordinance, Cap. 132.'

The purpose of the Order is to designate Level 5 of the Urban Council Aberdeen Complex as a library and to include it in the Third Schedule to the Public Health and Urban Services Ordinance, Cap. 132.

I beg to move.

MR. STEPHEN M. L. LAU seconded (in Cantonese):— Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.

The question was put.

The motion was carried unanimously.

2.

MR. B. A. BERNACCHI moved the following motion:-

"That in principle the Meetings of the Standing Committee of the Whole should be open to the public, except where matters of a confidential nature are under discussion, but that this matter should be referred to the Administration Select Committee to decide how best to implement it, having regard both to the Council's present standing orders and practice of holding such meetings in the fairly informal atmosphere of the large committee room.'

He said (in English):— Mr. Chairman, I beg to move the Motion that stands in my name on today's order paper.

In U.K. nowadays, even Select Committees of nearly all Municipal and City Councils are open to the public, except when discussing confidential papers. In that way, the public personally or through the newspapers, feel that they are cooperating in the running of the city. In Hong Kong, at a time when very senior Government servants were still on the Urban Council, the monthly public meetings lasted a long time, both with Motions, and Questions to the official who was in charge of the particular matter, the subject of the question. These questions were searchingly framed, particularly the supplementaries. At that time, therefore, the public in Hong Kong was sufficiently aware of the work of the Urban Council generally.

However, on becoming financially independent, two things happened which made a big difference to these monthly meetings:

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