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especially when there is a serious pollution problem at the beaches this year. Can the Urban Council liaise with the Education Department and the District Boards to encourage more children to patronize the pools? I hope the Select Committee can consider this.

MR. SAMUEL P. W. WONG (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, last year we started to do something through the Education Department and the District Boards so that students can be encouraged to patronize our pools especially for those pools with a low usage rate. This exercise has started.

MR. MAN SAI-CHEONG (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, swimming is a seasonal activity and many families also go to swim together. Can we consider offering some services like monthly subscription tickets. In order to encourage the whole family to come to the swimming pools during summer, can we have subscription tickets or can we have preferential treatment or concessionary rate given, has the Committee considered this?

MR. SAMUEL P. W. WONG (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, as I have said last year coin-operated turnstiles had been installed in two swimming pools and within this year, some other pools will also have these turnstiles installed. With the installation of these coin-operated turnstiles, I wonder how we can use subscription tickets to encourage the whole family to use the pools? As I have just mentioned, the sessional period has been changed for some pool complexes and there is a single session daily that allows a person to use the pool from the morning till evening. We will consider other measures in the next swimming season to encourage more patronage.

MR. MAN SAI-CHEONG (in Cantonese): Mr. Chairman, I would like to supplement concerning getting more revenue. Higher usage level can generate more revenue and reduce subsidy. Installation of coin-operated turnstiles is only a means to reduce expenditure. We should try to reduce expenditure and increase revenue at the same time. In the long run, we should consider some methods to increase usage level. We should not be so conservative and be more imaginative. If we haven't considered this, I hope the Select Committee can discuss as soon as possible since the swimming season is approaching.

MR. SAMUEL P. W. WONG (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, of course we can consider it. However, we have to find some means to overcome the problem of coin-operated turnstiles before considering the concept of subscription tickets.

MR. STEPHEN M. L. LAU (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, the Vice-Chairman of the Recreation Select Committee has just mentioned that in 1983 we had 10 swimming pools but in 1987 we had 13. It seems that improvements over the past few years have not been satisfactory. I wonder if the Chairman of the Select Committee can promise in the near future to review the situation concerning encouraging more young people to use the pools especially this year a lot of beaches are classified as unsuitable for swimming? I think a review including revision of fees is appropriate so that we can encourage more youngsters to patronize the pools.

MR. SAMUEL P. W. WONG (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, we will consider this.

MRS. CHOW CHEUNG WAI-PING (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, to follow up on the concept of subscription ticket, I think the coin-operated turnstiles are suitable for single persons. If we want to increase revenue, we have to take more action. We can't simply encourage the schools or the students, I think subscription tickets can be considered. Like in some countries, concessionary rates will be given when the whole family comes. If we implement these arrangements, the usage level would increase and hence we can increase revenue. We should be more flexible in using two collection of fees together.

MR. SAMUEL P. W. WONG (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, the low usage level is attributable to non-peak hours or to certain pools. In Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, there are several pools which have a very high patronage level.

MR. PETER C. K. CHAN (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, I wonder if the Chairman of the Recreation Select Committee will agree in the near future we should have an overall review of the situation. For some pools like Kowloon Tsai or Victoria Park, even if you raise the admission fee again, they are still fully patronized. So we can think of new measures like monthly concessionary tickets introduced by MTR for non-peak hours. I think the Recreation Select Committee can consider various measures or we can even let somebody collect the fees for us.

MR. FAN KAM-PING (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, the gist of the matter is not the usage rate but rather has the usage level been affected after the fee increase. The Select Committee Chairman said that there was a slight effect on this. As regards the 12 open public swimming pool complexes under the Urban Council, only 4 complexes have problems regarding low usage rate. They were built in less populated areas like Chai Wan or Tai Wan Shan but members will agree they have a good population potential. I am sure some Members will agree, as more and more people moving into the Whampoa Gardens near Tai Wan Shan swimming pool complex, the population will increase gradually. So it is not the problem of increasing the revenue or reducing expenditure as such. I would also like to respond to the point raised by Mr. Hilton CHEONG-LEEN. We have already liaised with the Education Department and other bodies to encourage students to use our pools. During the summer holiday we have earmarked time to the Education Department to carry out 200 training courses.

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