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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

internal restructuring. Elections by constituencies will encourage people to participate in the management of urban services.

The multitude of urban services bodies will lead to duplication of manpower and resources, not to mention disparity of policies and administrative standards. Besides, there will be problems of coordin- ation and division of powers among regions. As each body will have less resources than a unified body or the Urban or Regional Council, it will be facing greater financial constraints.

All in all, most members agree that a unified urban services body will be advantageous in many respects to the future Hong Kong SAR,

4.2 Should the terms of reference of the Urban and Regional Councils be enlarged or reduced? Or should this second tier of government be abolished?

The work of the Urban Council is carried out by 13 Select Committees and can be divided into 4 areas:-

(1) Public hygiene

(2) Cultural services

(3) Recreational

(4) Administration

Environmental Hygiene Select Commit- tee, Food Hygiene Select Committee, Liquor Licensing Board and Markets and Street Traders Select Committee Culture Select Committee, Museums Select Committee and Libraries Select Committee

Entertainment Select Committee and Recreation Select Committee

Administration Select Committee, Fi- nance Select Committee, District Re- lations Select Committee and Capital Works Select Committee.

During these meetings on the Basic Law, members of the Urban Council have discussed in detail services of public hygiene, culture and recreation, to explore whether the Urban and Regional Councils' powers in these respects should be increased or reduced. As to administration, which involves daily work and management, members consider that the two Councils' duties and powers in this area should remain unchanged.

(A) PUBLIC HYGIENE

Cleansing services

Presently collection of refuse on land is mainly a responsibility of the Urban and Regional Councils while that on the sea is a responsibility of the Marine Department. But as refuse in the sea comes largely from land, if the Urban and Regional Councils were to take up overall management, refuse on land and the sea will be more efficiently and

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systematically handled. As to the idea that the jurisdiction of the Urban and Regional Councils be extended to cover cleansing services in housing estates, it is difficult to realize as it will cause a drastic increase in administrative work and will be handicapped by financial constraints.

Pollution

To solve the problem of pollution requires special knowhow and experts. Possessing huge financial resources and experts, the central government is capable of formulating long-term plans. It should take up this responsibility. The Urban and Regional Councils, being closer to the public, should handle pollution problems presently within their jurisdiction, such as noise pollution made by air-conditioning and ventilation systems.

Food hygiene

The Urban Council is responsible for ensuring that all locally manufactured (including that for export) and imported food meet hygiene standards. To safeguard public health, the Urban and Regional Councils have to regularly inspect and sample-check various kinds of food. Their role and duties in this area should be reinforced.

Public health

The Urban and Regional Councils should attach more importance to the promotion of public health education which includes environ- mental hygiene, public health, food hygiene and prevention of disease. Public health services presently provided by the two Councils mainly include supervision on hygiene standards of food and restaurants as well as pest control. Members consider that the two Councils should preserve their existing powers and step up controls in these areas.

Markets

Markets are constructed to satisfy public demand for such facilities and accommodate on-street hawkers to prevent the latter from crowding the streets, causing nuisance or obstructing traffic. The Urban and Regional Councils can take over management of markets in housing estates from the Housing Authority so as to avoid overlap of duties and achieve higher efficiency.

Hawkers

Hawkers have to be kept under control to reduce the nuisance caused by them. The aim of the Urban Council is to reduce the number of hawkers and accommodate them in markets. To effectively control the existing three types of hawkers—licensed, unlicensed and hawkers in public housing estates, powers have to be vested in one single body. As the Urban Council and the Housing Authority's hawker policies are