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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

MR. JASON K. Y. YUEN (in English):--Mr. Chairman, since this question of asbestos abatement work is quite a complicated and highly technical thing, I wonder if the Council can produce some sort of immediate interim report reporting the present situation to the public rather than asking the public to wait for the annual report so that the public can lay their heart at rest.

MR. PAO PING-WING (in English):-Mr. Chairman, I like to reply to the question in two parts. The first part, as I said in my reply, the concerned Government Departments, including the Environmental Protection Branch, already stated very clearly that there is no Urban Council venue presently with immediately harmful asbestos material which will affect public health. So that is the first part of the question. Secondly, in fact, several months back, the Capital Works Select Committee did discuss a paper concerning the asbestos material venues maintenance programme. If Mr. YUEN is interested, I think I will ask the Department to send him a copy of our previous discussion paper.

MR. TONG KAM-BIU (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, I am not very satisfied with Mr. Pao's reply. He emphasized that in some facilities they are inaccessible to the members of the public, the risk is regarded to be very low, and monitoring work will continue. Since asbestos materials are harmful to members of the public, we cannot say that since the facilities are inaccessible to the public, there is no danger. Perhaps some staff or members of the public accidentally might find their way onto these facilities, and this will give rise to danger. So I don't think that the answer is acceptable to me. Regarding the level of risk, no matter how low it is, it is still harmful to health. I think we have to pay special attention to it anyway. How are you going to monitor it? Are you going to do it on a 24-hour basis or to do it by automatic detector? Can the Committee, as soon as possible, do the abatement work about the asbestos-based materials at one go rather than waiting until the end of this financial year? Since the UC is financially autonomous, we should not save any money which is worth spending. I think the Committee should seriously consider this point. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

MR. PAO PING-WING (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, Mr. TONG's question consists of four parts. I will answer them one by one. First, Mr. TONG said that we should deal with the problem at one go. In concluding my reply, I said that, on one hand, if we want to remove all asbestos-based materials, we have to consider the safety of the users. On the other hand, the Urban Council would also have to consider how to reduce the capital cost and to reduce the inconvenience caused to members of the public when carrying out the abatement work. As I have just said, a well-balanced approach is to be adopted, so removal will be combined in the annual planned maintenance. This is not to say that we are not paying attention to this problem. In fact, we have incorporated the removal in our annual planned maintenance programme. The second question relates to the statement that we are not going to deal with the low-risk category. I don't think it is a fair comment. We just categorize this material as low risk because we just want members of the public to know that asbestos might not necessarily give rise to danger. As I have just said, unless the bonding is damaged, otherwise, there should not be any problem. As regards the pipe lagging located in boiler rooms, normally they are not accessible to the public except those people who are responsible for maintenance and monitoring. I hope that Mr. TONG can understand that the Council also takes care of the health of its staff members, as these places are prohibited from entering. Thirdly, not all people can monitor the problem of asbestos, so the duty of monitoring rests with the district maintenance surveyors of the Architectural Services Department, who inspect the asbestos materials every six months. I also understand that if there are any suspicious cases, monitoring will be carried out more frequently. Finally, as regards whether we can deal with the problem at one go, I think this is a good idea; we will bring this matter to the Capital Works Select Committee for further discussion. But I would like to remind members that we have to take into account the cost-effectiveness and disruption to members of the public when undertaking the abatement works.

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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

3. MISS CECILIA L. Y. YEUNG asked the following question (in English):— I understand that there has been a series of robberies in the Kowloon City Complex resulting in considerable losses to stallholders. Please could I enquire as to the adequacy of our security arrangements?

MR. HILTON CHEONG-LEEN, CHAIRMAN OF THE MARKETS AND STREET TRADERS SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):-Mr. Chairman, since the commissioning of the Kowloon City Complex in May last year, there have been three reported incidents of theft and burglary in the Complex, but no robbery case has been reported so far.

In December last year, a large quantity of copper tapes on the roof of the Complex, which are part of the 'anti-lightning devices', were stolen. The replacement and repair cost amounts to $63,000. There were also two other separate incidents of theft involving altogether six meat stalls on 10 February this year and 5 March this year, resulting in the loss of cash amounting to $7,500 and a small quantity of other properties, such as knives, etc.

It was suspected that the burglar gained access to the Market at night after it was closed by breaking through the wire nets on the external walls of the Complex. Steps have now been taken to replace the wire nettings with strong metal bars to enhance security. The security company employed to provide security service to the premises will be issued with a warning letter for failing to stop the reported cases of theft and burglary in time. The Police have also been alerted to pay particular attention in the area, and a Police Report Book has now been provided at the Cooked Food Centre on the 3rd floor. Two watchman clocks have also been ordered and will be installed in strategic positions to ensure regular patrols by the security guards.

On the whole, the Department considers that the measures for the Complex are generally satisfactory. The Market Section is closed after 8 p.m. every day.

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