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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

STATEMENT BY MR. SAMUEL P. W. WONG, CHAIRMAN OF THE RECREATION SELECT COMMITTEE

He said (in English): Mr. Chairman, I would like to make a statement so as to put the record straight in regard to an answer which I gave at last month's (February) meeting in response to a question from our colleague Mr. Joseph CHAN concerning the method of water treatment in our swimming pools.

At that time, and in answer to several supplementary questions concerning the use of ozone as a water sterilization agent, I mentioned that the Department was considering the use of ozone in swimming pools. I was also asked why the Department had apparently undergone a change of heart over the matter.

I have now been advised that the Department is still conducting a trial in the use of ultra-violet rather than ozone, and the Recreation Select Committee will soon receive a progress report on this trial. The Department has not therefore undergone a change of heart after all.

In the new Kowloon Park project, which as Members know, is being developed by the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club as a turn-key project for the Council, the water in the swimming pool there will be sterilized by ozone. When I remarked that Council would be considering the use of ozone for water sterilization, I had this project in mind. We must await the results of the trial I have referred to before we can make a decision on this issue.

MOTIONS

1. MR. D. B. LEUNG, CHAIRMAN OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE SELECT COMMITTEE, moved the following motion (in English):-Mr. Chairman, as Chairman of the Environmental Hygiene Select Committee, I rise to move the motion standing in my name:-

'RESOLVED that the Places of Amusement (Urban Council) (Amendment) By-laws 1987 be made under section 92B of the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance, Cap. 132.'

The Places of Amusement (Urban Council) (Amendment) By-laws 1987 made under the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance now before the Council will, when adopted, alter the fees payable for licences for public billiard saloons in the Urban Council area.

In the past, for computation of licence fee levels, the administrative cost in respect of public billiard saloons has been grouped under the category 'other licences' which comprises of bowling alleys, table tennis, skating rinks, billiard saloons and places of public entertainment. However, the Council has recently decided to extend licensing to all billiard establishments, both public and private, which have more than 5 tables per establishment. Therefore, it has been

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necessary to revise the computation of the administrative costs to reflect the fact that the number of establishments to be licensed in future may increase from the present 31 to 194 with a total increase in the number of tables from the present 505 to an estimated 3 715 tables. Since the Urban Council can only charge licence fees to cover the actual administrative cost involved, the new licence fees have been proposed to be $170. The administrative costs have therefore been adjusted downwards from $1,440 to $170 per table taking into account of the increase in the number of tables likely to be licensed in the future.

This has been carefully considered and hotly debated in the Environmental Hygiene Select Committee, the Finance Select Committee and the Standing Committee of the Whole Council, and I am satisfied that due weight has been given to all implications of this proposal and this will certainly come as a present surprise to the operators of billiard establishments.

Mr. Chairman, I beg to move.

MR. TONG KAM-BIU, VICE-CHAIRMAN OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE SELECT COMMITTEE, Seconded the motion (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I rise to second the motion.

The question was put.

The motion was carried unanimously.

2. DR. RONALD D. B. LEUNG, CHAIRMAN OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE SELECT COMMITTEE, moved the following motion (in English):---Mr. Chairman, as Chairman of the Environmental Hygiene Select Committee, I rise to move the motion standing in my name:—

'RESOLVED that the Cremation and Gardens of Remembrance (Urban Council) (Amendment) By-laws 1987 be made under section 124E of the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance, Cap. 132.'

The Cremation and Gardens of Remembrance (Urban Council) (Amend- ment) By-laws 1987 made under the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance now before the Council will, when adopted, increase the fees for the disposal of the dead in the Urban Council area.

The existing fees for such service has not been revised since 1983, because so far the revenue generated from such services has covered the recurrent expenditure with a subsidy by the Council. However, owing to the rising maintenance costs, this will not be the case for the next fiscal year. If the fees for the disposal of the dead remain at their present level, the Council will have to subsidize more for the disposal of the dead, about 54 per cent for cremation and 55 per cent for columbarium niches, whereas the Council's approved target subsidy level is not to exceed 50 per cent of the total costs in both cases, and there will be an estimated deficit of more than $6 millions in 1987/88.