1988 — Page 99

Page 99 of 182

190

HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

for 1986 and to 1989 in the Programme for 1988. The repeated deferment of the commencement date leads to the public perception that the Urban Services Department is not determined enough, fails to attach due importance and causes

delay in the implementation of the redevelopment plan.

In a paper tabled by the Buildings and Lands Department at the Sham Shui Po District Board meeting on 6 October 1988, Members were informed of the Government's intention to invite tender for leasing the government land below the West Kowloon Corridor between Tai Kok Tsui Road and Pei Ho Street in short term tenancy for charged parking purposes for private cars, taxi and light vans. In item 4 of the proposed items in the paper, it was pointed out that as the Urban Council had not yet approved the use of the site as a temporary market, so it would not be used for that purpose in the coming 18 months of tenancy.

I have the following questions on the above matter:

(a) Why Urban Council has not yet approved using the space below West Kowloon Corridor between Tai Kok Tsui Road and Pei Ho Street as a temporary market so that redevelopment works for Sham Shui Po Market can commence?

(b) If Urban Services Department intends to let the Buildings and Lands Department use that site for a temporary car park, has it considered the acquisition of the space under the West Kowloon Corridor between Yen Chau Street and Pei Ho Street for building a temporary market (this point was discussed at the MST S/C meeting in July 1984)? And how many wet goods stalls can be accommodated on that piece of land?

(c) If Urban Services Department has not considered getting this site, has it

considered other possible sites for a temporary market within the district? (d) Has Urban Services Department considered using the barrack in Yen Chau Street for the construction of a temporary market? (It will be possible at the end of 1989 when the Vietnamese Refugee Camp moves to Tuen Mun.) If this has not been considered, what is the reason?

DR. THE HON. ELSIE TU, CHAIRMAN OF THE MARKETS AND STREET TRADERS SELECT COMMITTEE replied as follows:-Mr. Chairman, If you are not too tired of listening to me, I will now answer that question.

Mr. FUNG has raised a series of questions about future planning for re-development of the Sham Shui Po Market, the associated problem of resiting licensed hawkers in the neighbourhood of the market and the provision of land in general for licensed hawkers in the Sham Shui Po East Sub-District. To answer these questions satisfactorily, I need to set out in broad outline terms the general market and hawker situation in that area in order that members may view this matter in its proper perspective.

The existing Sham Shui Po Market situated at Pei Ho Street is a very old market built in the 1920s. It was originally designed for the purpose of catering

HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

Page 99 of 182

191

for a population of 25000. It occupies a site of 3 568 m2 and provides the

following facilities:

22 meat stalls 33 fish stalls

16 poultry stalls (plus 24 stalls 'tolerated' on the street outside the

market)

1 ice stall

13 vegetable stalls

Total: 85 plus 24 'tolerated' stalls

(altogether about 110)

With the rapid development in the Sham Shui Po East Sub-District in the past thirty years and the growth of new public housing estates to the north of the sub-district such as Shek Kei Mei and Pak Tin, the market has now become a popular shopping place not only for residents in Sham Shui Po East but also other districts in Western Kowloon. Furthermore to cater for heavy consumer demand, licensed and unlicensed hawkers conglomerate around the market and in the course of time they tend to inhibit traffic flow and create environ- mental nuisances. I may add that many of those hawkers come from the New Territories.

Our latest reckoning is that there are over 700 licensed hawkers and around 840 unlicensed hawkers who habitually do business in the neighbourhood of the market. The principal commodities they sell include vegetables, fruits, food items, and garments.

So, to re-develop the market we need, first of all, to find sufficient space within the catchment area to accommodate 99 market stalls and 1 540 hawkers during the period of the reconstruction of the market. It need not be a single piece of land, but the land has to be easily accessible to customers, create little environmental nuisance and therefore be acceptable from the traffic point of view. Such a site or a number of sites are simply not available, in busy and congested Sham Shui Po East which is already over-crowded.

The second and more fundamental problem, is to accommodate all these market tenants and hawkers on a long-term basis. Having regard to site constraints and other technical considerations, the re-developed Sham Shui Po Market, in order to be viable, could only accommodate a maximum of 88 market stalls and 165 mini-stalls. This would leave a balance of 11 market stalls and nearly 1 400 hawkers unattended to. With such a large number of market stalls and hawkers to be left out in the cold, there is a genuine need to find a site or two sites for a second or even a third market. The prospect, I am afraid, of finding two or more such sites is very slim indeed although this is clearly the direction in which we should be heading.

What I have just said serves to explain why the Sham Shui Po Market Redevelopment Plan has had to be changed and postponed time and again in the past six years. I can assure Mr. FUNG that there is no lack of determination