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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
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This situation is rather unsatisfactory as it may damage our cars.
Secondly there is only one entrance and if the drivers park their cars at the end of the depot, they have to walk a very long way before they reach the entrance and this will pose a great danger to them. I think that it is not enough to spend only $55,000 to make improvement works to a depot which has no definite date for cessation of operation. I only wish to ask can more improvement works be carried out?
MR. PAO PING-WING (in Cantonese): Yes, Mr. Chairman, I am sure we will consider all improvement measures which are cost-effective. The specific problems which Mr. TONG have just mentioned will be forwarded to the USD for consideration. Finally, concerning when the new depot will be completed, we don't have a definite date yet but according to the programme I think that it will take several years.
(Mr. LEE Chik-yuet arrived at 2.55 p.m.)
STATEMENT BY MRS. ELSIE TU, CHAIRMAN OF THE WORKING PARTY TO REVIEW HAWKER AND RELATED POLICIES
She said (in English):—Mr. Chairman, in line with the Urban Council's widely publicized policy to seek professional advice on better enforcement methods against illegal hawking, two senior Police Officers have just been seconded to the Urban Services Department to make an in-depth study of the hawker problem. This study must of necessity be a thorough and painstaking exercise.
In the end it will be for the Council to consider their expert views on the manpower, management, training and other resource requirements for putting into action any of the main enforcement proposals recommended by the Working Party to Review Hawker and Related Policies.
Unfortunately it has recently been reported in the Press that the Council could be paying up to $400 million a year in higher hawker-management costs. This suggestion was extracted from a proposal made to the Working Party in a draft paper but was rejected on the ground that any reference to manpower and finance would be premature until the police officers and the Department had studied control methods and requirements.
For any one, whoever it may be, to release to a certain sector of the Press a document that has not even been discussed, let alone decided upon by the Council, is not only unethical but harmful to the public.
The Working Party has NOT yet agreed to any financial proposals involving hawker management. There have as yet been NO such recommendations and NO discussions in the Urban Council proper on any such proposals.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
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At this stage, the Working Party is a long way from discussing, let alone deciding upon, any financial implications in hawker management.
The only recommendations which have been finalized by the Working Party concern non-controversial policies, such as the design of market buildings and normal licence fee reviews, which do not involve additional manpower or financial resources.
These non-controversial policies will go ahead on an ad hoc basis after discussion in the regular meetings of the Markets and Street Traders Select Committee.
STATEMENT BY MR. SAMUEL P. W. WONG, CHAIRMAN OF THE RECREATION SELECT COMMITTEE
He said (in English):—Mr. Chairman, two of the Urban Council's most heavily used athletic tracks are to be completely modernized and upgraded, and other improvement works carried out at the two venues concerned, Kowloon Tsai Park and the Wan Chai Sports Ground.
The decision to go ahead with both projects has just been taken by the Council which believes that the combined cost about $20 million will be money well spent on these two highly popular sports venues.
At Kowloon Tsai Park, the existing seven-lane athletic track will be replaced by a standard eight-lane track made of long-lasting synthetic all-weather material.
To further improve the facilities at Kowloon Tsai, a covered concrete spectator stand with seating capacity for 1,400 will be built along with service facilities such as changing rooms, toilets and a first-aid room.
Work on the $15 million improvement scheme will begin about mid-1987 when the new Kowloon Bay Recreation Ground is expected to come on stream. Completion is scheduled for early 1989.
Meanwhile, the running track at the Wan Chai Sports Ground will get a $5.1 million facelift, and be resurfaced with a more durable type of synthetic material which is already in use at the Aberdeen Sports Ground and has proved to be of good quality.
In relaying the track, the sub-base will also be specially relaid to eliminate pools of water forming after heavy rain.
Since the Wan Chai Sports Ground was opened in 1978, its facilities have been heavily used by schools and the Amateur Athletic Association for training and competition purposes.
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Page 110 of 201
178
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
as
This situation is rather unsatisfactory as it may damage our cars.
Secondly there is only one entrance and if the drivers park their cars at the end of the depot, they have to walk a very long way before they reach the entrance and this will pose a great danger to them. I think that it is not enough to spend only $55,000 to make improvement works to a depot which has no definite date for cessation of operation. I only wish to ask can more improvement works be carried out?
MR. PAO PING-WING (in Cantonese): Yes, Mr. Chairman, I am sure we will consider all improvement measures which are cost-effective. The specific problems which Mr. TONG have just mentioned will be forwarded to the USD for consideration. Finally, concerning when the new depot will be completed, we don't have a definite date yet but according to the programme I think that it will take several years.
(Mr. LEE Chik-yuet arrived at 2.55 p.m.)
STATEMENT BY MRS. ELSIE TU, CHAIRMAN OF THE WORKING PARTY TO REVIEW HAWKER AND RELATED POLICIES
She said (in English):-Mr. Chairman, in line with the Urban Council's widely publicized policy to seek professional advice on better enforcement methods against illegal hawking, two senior Police Officers have just been seconded to the Urban Services Department to make an in-depth study of the hawker problem. This study must of necessity be a thorough and painstaking exercise.
In the end it will be for the Council to consider their expert views on the manpower, management, training and other resource requirements for putting into action any of the main enforcement proposals recommended by the Working Party to Review Hawker and Related Policies.
Unfortunately it has recently been reported in the Press that the Council could be paying up to $400 million a year in higher hawker-management costs. This suggestion was extracted from a proposal made to the Working Party in a draft paper but was rejected on the ground that any reference to manpower and finance would be premature until the police officers and the Department had studied control methods and requirements.
For any one, whoever it may be, to release to a certain sector of the Press a document that has not even been discussed, let alone decided upon by the Council, is not only unethical but harmful to the public.
The Working Party has NOT yet agreed to any financial proposals involving hawker management. There have as yet been NO such recommendations and NO discussions in the Urban Council proper on any such proposals.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Page 110 of 201
179
At this stage, the Working Party is a long way from discussing, let alone deciding upon, any financial implications in hawker management.
The only recommendations which have been finalized by the Working Party concern non-controversial policies, such as the design of market buildings and normal licence fee reviews, which do not involve additional manpower or financial resources.
These non-controversial policies will go ahead on an ad hoc basis after discussion in the regular meetings of the Markets and Street Traders Select Committee.
STATEMENT BY MR. SAMUEL P. W. WONG, CHAIRMAN OF THE RECREATION SELECT COMMITTEE
He said (in English):—Mr. Chairman, two of the Urban Council's most heavily used athletic tracks are to be completely modernized and upgraded, and other improvement works carried out at the two venues concerned, Kowloon Tsai Park and the Wan Chai Sports Ground.
The decision to go ahead with both projects has just been taken by the Council which believes that the combined cost about $20 million will be money well spent on these two highly popular sports venues.
At Kowloon Tsai Park, the existing seven-lane athletic track will be replaced by a standard eight-lane track made of long-lasting synthetic all-weather material.
To further improve the facilities at Kowloon Tsai, a covered concrete spectator stand with seating capacity for 1 400 will be built along with service facilities such as changing rooms, toilets and a first-aid room.
Work on the $15 million improvement scheme will begin about mid-1987 when the new Kowloon Bay Recreation Ground is expected to come on stream. Completion is scheduled for early 1989.
Meanwhile, the running track at the Wan Chai Sports Ground will get a $5.1 million facelift, and be resurfaced with a more durable type of synthetic material which is already in use at the Aberdeen Sports Ground and has proved to be of good quality.
In relaying the track, the sub-base will also be specially relaid to eliminate pools of water forming after heavy rain.
Since the Wan Chai Sports Ground was opened in 1978, its facilities have been heavily used by schools and the Amateur Althletic Association for training and competition purposes.
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