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The first part concerns the maintenance of cleanliness of the urban areas by the Council against the background of the 'zero growth' policy.
It is true that USD like other Government Departments has to face the constraints which 'zero growth' imposes on its manpower establishment. However, there is flexibility within these constraints in respect of the allocation of manpower and other resources. I am assured that with a pragmatic combination of appropriate redeployment, some new posts and sustained efforts to enhance efficiency, the Department will be able to maintain a satisfactory standard of street cleanliness even against this background of zero growth.
The second part of the question concerns possible adjustment in the proportion of the funds allocated between environmental hygiene and other municipal activities. I think colleagues should be aware that every year the Department conducts a thorough forecast of expenditure for the scrutiny and approval of Council. Such exercises have already taken into account the current level of services to project an estimate of expenditures for the next financial year. The projected expenditure does include programmed commitments due to new developments as well as improvement to existing services. Adequate provision of funds for each and every activity has been made. Should any unexpected expenditure or contingency arise from special circumstances, supplementary provision can always be sought. I believe that within any particular budget adjustment of allocation from one activity to another would normally not be necessary. My colleagues from the Finance Select Committee can confirm this point.
The third part of the question concerns additional manpower resources to strengthen street cleansing services in busy and densely populated areas.
Clearly zero growth does impose some constraints. Yet the effect of those constraints on street cleanliness is minimal. In fact, in the past 2 years, the urban population has already declined by about 3%. So there has therefore been an improvement in the cleanliness of the streets. In the urban areas, we have seen no deterioration whatsoever. We asked a research company to conduct a survey at the beginning of this year. They confirmed that the standard of cleanliness of the streets in general is acceptable to the public and they also acknowledge the improvement made.
Furthermore, despite zero policy, in the past years the Council has purchased 14 new mechanical sweepers and 17 new street washing vehicles to supplement the normal street sweeping service.
In terms of demographics, Yau Tsim district is quite exceptional. Day population levels have marginally increased. There may be particular black spots where street cleanliness is concerned but the general street condition has not deteriorated. We have maintained street cleanliness through mechanical street cleansing vehicles other than people street sweeping. Significant areas previously cleaned by us have been excised from our beat schedules. These include parks, promenades and large complexes. This has added to our ability to be flexible in deployment of our staff.
The cleanliness in the Ferry Point area is a problem because of the shop extensions, narrowness of the streets, vehicles parked along the street, etc. However, the Department has already taken some steps to make sure that the area is clean. We have increased the frequency of sweeping from 4 times to 5 times a day and we have also summoned shop owners who are causing obstruction. In the past 2 months, we have already made 10 prosecutions.
To improve the cleanliness of the Ferry Point, the Department has already taken the following steps to supplement the manual cleansing services:
First — Stepping up enforcement action against shop extensions for causing obstruction to street sweeping service.
Second — Deploying Special Cleansing Squads to clean up and wash up the area as a supplement to street sweeping on a regular basis.
Third — Mounting mobile teams to carry out special cleaning operations.
And Finally — Placement of additional litter bins to cater for the needs of the passers-by. It is true that we have a zero growth policy. I am sure that USD will continue to make sure that the standard of cleanliness of our streets is high and acceptable.
MR. IP KWOK-CHUNG (in Cantonese): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a follow-up question concerning some busy districts where there are a lot of food establishments such as Ferry Point. Since a lot of food establishments have left a huge amount of rubbish on the streets every night, the existing mechanical sweepers only spray water on pavement and they don't have workers sweeping the street afterwards. I would like to ask a question on whether the existing sweeping method is suitable for particularly busy areas and streets?
MR. PAO PING-WING (in Cantonese): Mr. Chairman, in fact, the USD has been monitoring the question of finding the best method to sweep the streets. As to the question on whether the existing sweeping method as mentioned by Mr. Ip may not be suitable for streets with a lot of food establishments, I would raise it at the select committee meeting so that the Department can have an opportunity to provide a detailed reply.
8. MR. YIM KWOK-ON asked the following question (in Cantonese): From the numerous complaints received and the inspections conducted recently, it is found that the problem of illegal mobile cooked food hawking is very serious in Mong Kok district from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. every night. Those hawkers do business on pavements and the varieties of their food include chafing dish, congee and noodles. The activities cause grave inconvenience and nuisance, environmental hygiene problem in particular, to nearby residents and pedestrians. I would like to ask:
(1) In what way does the Council control the above-mentioned hawking activities and how is the situation regarding prosecution against the hawkers?
(2) By what effective means can improvement to the above-mentioned hawking situation be ensured?
MR. CHAN TAK-CHOR, CHAIRMAN OF THE MARKETS AND STREET TRADERS SELECT COMMITTEE replied as follows (in Cantonese): This question concerns the control and prosecution of illegal mobile cooked food hawkers operating very late at night in the Mong Kok District.
Every afternoon and evening, until 11.00 p.m., there are a total of 5 GDT squads deployed in Mong Kok to regulate and control the activities of both licensed and illegal hawkers throughout this extremely busy district in the heart of Kowloon. Particular attention is paid in the case of illegal cooked food hawkers to side streets such as Portland Street, Tung Choi Street, Shan Tung Street and Nelson Street where nearby commercial and entertainment activities extend to late night and early morning hours. In general, effective control is thus being maintained on a daily basis until the late evening hours.
However, after midnight, enforcement action against illegal cooked food hawking becomes increasingly prone to potentially violent confrontation with the operators and thus to avoid exposing GDT staff to unnecessary risk of physical injury, operations after 11.00 p.m. are mounted and conducted only when these can be supported by the Police. The Department regularly organizes joint operations with the Police in Mong Kok to tackle this illegal hawking problem after normal GDT shift hours in this district. Over the past 6 months, for example, a total of 18 late-night joint operations with the Police were carried out. These operations resulted in a total of 68 arrests of illegal cooked food hawkers. The Department considers that these operations, and resulting prosecutions are producing a significant deterrent effect.
This question also asks whether measures can be introduced to improve the present situation.
The control of illegal cooked food hawkers operating outside normal GDT hours presents practical problems in terms of staff resources, etc. Nevertheless, the Department will monitor developments on-the-ground as well as the availability of staff and other resources, including Police support, to consider further increasing if necessary the frequency of joint late-night operations.
MR. CHAN KWOK-MING (in Cantonese): Mr. Chairman, I am quite disappointed by the reply given by Mr. CHAN Tak-chor. I do not agree with his views. In the reply, it is stated in the past 6 months there were only 18 joint operations...
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Page 100 of 126
179
Page 101 of 126
180
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Page 101 of 126
Page 100 of 126
178
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
The first part concerns the maintenance of cleanliness of the urban areas by the Council against the background of the 'zero growth' policy.
It is true that USD like other Government Departments has to face the constraints which 'zero growth' imposes on its manpower establishment. However, there is flexibility within these constraints in respect of the allocation of manpower and other resources. I am assured that with a pragmatic combination of appropriate redeployment, some new posts and sustained efforts to enhance efficiency, the Department will be able to maintain a satisfactory standard of street cleanliness even against this background of zero growth.
The second part of the question concerns possible adjustment in the proportion of the funds allocated between environmental hygiene and other municipal activities. I think colleagues should be aware that every year the Department conducts a thorough forecast of expenditure for the scrutiny and approval of Council. Such exercises have already taken into account the current level of services to project an estimate of expenditures for the next financial year. The projected expenditure does include programmed commitments due to new developments as well as improvement to existing services. Adequate provision of funds for each and every activity has been made. Should any unexpected expenditure or contingency arise from special circumstances, supplementary provision can always be sought. I believe that within any particular budget adjustment of allocation from one activity to another would normally not be necessary. My colleagues from the Finance Select Committee can confirm this point.
The third part of the question concerns additional manpower resources to strenthen street cleansing services in busy and densely populated areas.
Clearly zero growth does impose some constraints. Yet the effect of those constraints are, on street cleanlines are minimal. In fact, in the past 2 years, the urban population has already declined by about 3%. So there has therefore been an improvement in the cleanliness of the streets. In the urban areas, we have seen no deterioration whatsoever. We ask a research company to conduct a survey at the beginning of this year. They confirmed that the standard of cleanliness of the streets in general is acceptable to the public and they also acknowledge the improvement made.
Furthermore, despite zero policy, in the past years the Council has purchased 14 new mechanical sweepers and 17 new street washing vehicles to supplement the normal street sweeping service.
In terms of demographics, Yau Tsim district is quite exceptional. Day population levels have marginally increased. There may be particular black spots where street cleanliness is concerned but the general street condition has not deteriorated. We have maintained street cleanliness through mechancial street cleansing vehicles other than people street sweeping. Significant areas
Page 100 of 126
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Page 100 of 126
179
previously cleaned by us have been excised from our beat schedules. These includes parks, promenades and large complexes. This has added to our ability to be flexible in deployment of our staff.
The cleanliness in the Ferry Point area is a problem because of the shop extensions, narrowness of the streets, vehicles parked along the street, etc. However, the Department has already taken some steps to make sure that the area is clean. We have increased the frequency of sweeping from 4 times to 5 times a day and we have also summoned shop owners who are causing obstruction. In the past 2 months, we have already made 10 prosecutions.
To improve the cleanliness of the Ferry Point, the Department has already taken the following steps to supplement the manual cleansing services:
First-
Stepping up enforcement action against shop extensions for causing obstruction to street sweeping service.
Second-
Deploying Special Cleansing Squads to clean up and wash up the area as a supplement to street sweeping on regular basis.
Third-
Mounting mobile teams to carry out special cleaning operations.
and Finally-
Placement of additional litter bins to cater for the needs of the passers-by. It is true that we have zero growth policy. I am sure that USD will continue to make sure that the standard of cleanliness of our streets is high and acceptable.
MR. IP KWOK-CHUNG (in Cantonese):-Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a follow-up question concerning some busy districts where there are a lot of food establishments such as Ferry Point. Since a lot of food establishments have left a huge amount of rubbish on the streets every night, the existing mechanical sweepers only spray water on pavement and they don't have workers sweeping the street afterwards. I would like to ask a question on whether the existing sweeping method is suitable for particularly busy areas and streets?
MR. PAO PING-WING (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, in fact, the USD has been monitoring the question of finding the best method to sweep the streets. As to the question on whether the existing sweeping method as mentioned by Mr. Ip may not be suitable for streets with a lot of food establishments, I would raise it at the select committee meeting so that the Department can have an opportunity to provide a detailed reply,
8. MR. YIM KWOK-ON asked the following question (in Cantonese):-From the numerous complaints received and the inspections conducted recently, it is found that the problem of illegal mobile cooked food hawking is very serious in
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Mong Kok district from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. every night. Those hawkers do business on pavements and the varieties of their food include chafing dish, congee and noodles. The activities cause grave inconvenience and nuisance, environmental hygiene problem in particular, to nearby residents and pedestrians. I would like to ask:
(1) In what way does the Council control the above-mentioned hawking activities
and how is the situation regarding prosecution against the hawkers? (2) By what effective means can improvement to above-mentioned hawking
situation be ensured?
MR. CHAN TAK-CHOR, CHAIRMAN OF THE MARKETS AND STREET TRADERS SELECT COMMITTEE replied as follows (in Cantonese):-This question concerns the control and prosecution of illegal mobile cooked food hawkers operating very late at night in the Mong Kok District.
Every afternoon and evening, until 11.00 p.m., there are a total of 5 GDT squads deployed in Mong Kok to regulate and control the activities of both licenced and illegal hawkers throughout this extremely busy district in the heart of Kowloon. Particular attention is paid in the case of illegal cooked food hawkers to side streets such as Portland Street, Tung Choi Street, Shan Tung Street and Nelson Street where nearby commercial and entertainment activities extend to late night and early morning hours. In general, effective control is thus being maintained on a daily basis until the late evening hours.
However, after midnight, enforecment action against illegal cooked food hawking becomes increasing prone to potentially violent confrontation with the operators and thus to avoid exposing GDT staff to unnecessary risk of physical injury, operations after 11.00 p.m. are mounted and conducted only when these can be supported by the Police. The Department regularly organizes joint operations with the Police in Mong Kok to tackle this illegal hawking problem after normal GDT shift hours in this district. Over the past 6 months, for example, a total of 18 late-night joint operations with the Police were carried out. These operations resulted in a total of 68 arrests of illegal cooked food hawkers. The Department considers that these operations, and resulting prosecutions are producing a significant deterrent effect.
This question also asks whether measures can be introduced to improve the present situation.
The control of illegal cooked food hawkers operating outside normal GDT hours presents practical problems in terms of staff resources, etc. Nevertheless, the Department will monitor developments on-the-ground as well as the availability of staff and other resources, including Police support, to consider further increasing if necessary the frequency of joint late night operations.
MR. CHAN KWOK-MING (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I am quite disappointed by the reply given by Mr. CHAN Tak-chor. I do not agree with his views. In the reply, it is stated in the past 6 months there were only 18 joint
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