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directly related to the Council's library service, and that the Urban Council is not the right way to provide them for the following reasons:

(a) we still need more adequate library services, and the library expansion

programme should be given priority;

(b) the provision and management of reading-cum-study rooms does not require any particular expertise, and the provision of such facilities by the Urban Council would dissipate its scarce professional library staf resources; and

(c) the Education Department, the Social Welfare Department and the Voluntary Agencies are active in this area, and should be given every encouragement to enable them to expand their provision of these facilities. However, as some study is directly related to the use of libraries and in order to assist the Government with the provision of these much needed facilities, the Urban Council has agreed to:

(a) provide a self-contained study room in each full-scale district library, with seating provision to accommodate 1% of the total secondary school population. When adequate study room facilities are eventually provided by the Government, the Council's study rooms will be used for the extension of services/facilities of the district libraries;

(b) participate, through the Cultural Services Department, in the inter- departmental working group on the provision of study room facilities, which is chaired by the Education and Manpower Branch; and (c) operate special tri-sessional arrangements for its study rooms during the period of major public examination, with a view to providing more students with the opportunity to make use of the available seats.

The Urban Council through the Libraries Select Committee at present provides a total of 1 514 seats in the study rooms attached to its district libraries. During the month of April to June the number of seats are increased to 4 542, under the special tri-sessional arrangements.

With the completion of the district libraries in the council's market complexes over the next 4-5 years, the number of seats provided will rise to 3 769, or 11 307 under the tri-sessional arrangements.

The inter-departmental working group on study room facilities, under the chairmanship of the Education and Manpower Branch, has been instrumental in increasing the provision of study room facilities, and during the period of major public examination, the number of seats has increased from 10 544 in the school year 1981-82 to 14 968 in 1982-83.

Mr. PAO's suggestions will be referred to the Social Welfare Department and the Working Group on the provision of study room facilities for consideration.

7. MR. TONG KAM-BIU asked the following question (in Cantonese):-The unlicensed hawkers plying their trade in places designated for licensed hawkers or

hawkers, are

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alongside licensed hawker stalls are infringing upon the rights of the licensed persistently littering the areas as well as causing obstruction to pedestrian and vehicular traffic. What action has the Council taken to protect the rights and interests of the licensed hawkers and to solve the problem of illegal

hawking?

MR. SHUM CHOI-SANG, CHAIRMAN OF the Markets and Street Traders Select COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in Cantonese): This question concerns action taken by the Council to protect the rights and interests of licensed hawkers and to solve the problem of illegal hawkers.

It has always been one of the principal objectives of enforcement action against unlicensed hawkers to protect the interests of licensed hawkers and other legitimate traders. Enforcement action means patrolling, warning and prosecuting offenders. This commitment is shared by the Council's General Duties Teams and the Royal Hong Kong Police Force, with the Council controlling concentrations of street traders and the Police helping to keep major thoroughfares clear of obstruction. In some districts a Police Constable is attached to the General Duties Team and this has been a great help.

In October 1982, Council agreed on a strategy on hawker enforcement and control which aims at giving priority attention to the protection and control of public markets and licensed operators. For this purpose, 194 additional posts for the General Duties Teams have been created and filled while the creation of a further 104 posts is in the pipeline. This additional manpower has proved to be effective in strengthening Council's enforcement capability. During the first quarter in 1983, 8 229 arrests of unlicensed hawkers were made and charges made in respect of over 2 500 litter offences in hawker concentration areas. these figures compare with 4 866 arrests and 967 charges for litter offence in the corresponding period in 1982.

Council's long-term objective in tackling the problem of hawking is, of course, to move as many hawkers as possible into off-street public markets and hawker bazaars. 28 new market complexes are now in various stages of planning and construction. However, before sufficient market stalls are available to accommodate the on-street hawkers, the interim arrangements are to re-order established operators in those areas where they are already concentrated by offering them fixed pitches and licensing them accordingly. This ensures that the hawkers will be properly controlled and will not cause too much nuisance to the environment and traffic flow. Some 400 hawkers (including both licensed itinerant hawkers and illegal operators) have been re-ordered since the beginning of this year.

I must emphasize, however, that there is no easy or immediate solution to the problem of illegal hawkers. The process will be a slow and progressive one, depending to a large extent on the provision of adequate enforcement man- power resources and the supply of suitable areas for re-siting or re-ordering these operators.