Page 44 of 126
76
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. B. A. BERNACCHI (in English):-The next question concerns the final paragraph on page 3. When you say, as they are trading inside private building referring to Tai On Building, ‘it is the responsibility of the management', that is, I believe the Urban Council policy rather than the law. Under the law, the Urban Council officials can go into private premises if invited to do so by the management but the Urban Council itself thinks that the shortage of USD Teams is such it excludes private premises. Is that right?
MR. CHAN TAK-CHOR (in Cantonese):-Thank you, Mr. BERNACCHI. Since you are a lawyer, I think you know better than I do about what the law says. But as far as I know, we are not authorised to go into any private buildings. Whether the management of Tai On Building has invited the USD staff to go within the Building to help clear the illegal hawking or not, I have no knowledge. If what you said is true, I will certainly ask our legal adviser to give us some advice to see whether we should send our staff to go into Tai On Building to take enforcement action and I will relay your views to the Committee for further discussion. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
MR. B. A. BERNACCHI (in English):-Thank you. Now, the next question, the penultimate question is on the second paragraph of page 4 and is about people, the licensees (or lessees) having the licences to more than one stall. At between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. when I visited the market, there was very few people either stall holders or, buyers upstairs and certainly in my view the licensees, or lessees were not there, although as I say in my question the goods were put out. If that is right, can the Chairman say or advance a guess as to where the lessees were.
MR. CHAN TAK-CHOR (in Cantonese):-Thank you, Mr. BERNACCHI. In fact, I have already made it very clear in my reply, according to our investigation, over 50 lessees possessed more than one stall within the market, which is not violating our tenancy agreement. So as I said in my reply, the stall holders may physically trade only at what they consider to be their most viable stall. They continue to display goods at their other stalls. If Mr. BERNACCHI wants to follow up on this issue or can give us better suggestions for the Committee to consider, I will be very pleased to say that this can be raised at the Markets and Street Traders Select Committee meeting.
MR. B. A. BERNACCHI (in English):-I am on the Markets and Street Trader Select Committee. So, certainly I will come. The final question is on page 5, the first sentence 'there is only a limited illegal hawking in the vicinity of the Sai Wan Ho Market'. In that sentence, do you mean street hawking as opposed to hawking on private premises because I can assure you there is a lot of hawking on private premises, particularly on the Tai On Building.
MR. CHAN TAK-CHOR (in Cantonese):-Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have repeated in my reply that illegal hawking within private premises is not within the ambit of the USD. So what I mean should be on-street illegal hawkers. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Page 44 of 126
1
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
77
MR. MAN SAI-CHEONG (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask a question regarding installation of air-conditioning in the cooked food centres. It is known that the USD is discussing the matter with the lessees. If air-conditioning is installed, then the licence fees might be increased to reduce our operational cost. I would like to ask whether it is a reason for delaying the date of installation?
MR. CHAN TAK-CHOR (in Cantonese):-Thank you, Mr. MAN. My answer is that this will be done in parallel. In fact the USD has already done some preparatory work to discuss whether they are willing to stop business for three months or accept higher licence fees to bear the cost of installation of air-conditioning. Once these matters have been examined, a committee paper incorporating all these points will be presented to the Committee for endorsement and I believe that the installation work will not be delayed.
MR. MAN SAI-CHEONG (in Cantonese):-I have a follow-up question. If, after discussion, the licence fees or rents of the cooked food centre in Sai Wan Ho Market are increased, will this affect similar markets and cooked food centres? Will stall holders make similar request and will it create a precedent?
MR. CHAN TAK-CHOR (in Cantonese):-Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is also our worry as well. In fact, in my reply I have already stated that there is no general policy on provision of air-conditioning for all markets and cooked food centres. Each case will be considered on its merits. My visit to the Sai Wan Ho Market indicated that air-conditioning is the only way to improve ventilation within the market and there is no other way to lower the temperature. I made the site visit there and I think that the request is acceptable. However, the matter must have the approval of the Committee before it can proceed. Should other requests come to light, they will be considered on their own merits.
MR. JOSEPH CHAN YEUK-SUT (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, since there are illegal hawking activities around the Sai Wan Ho Market, and over 50 lessees in the Sai Wan Ho Market are possessing over one stall, can we consider by the time their tenancy agreements expire, we take back these stalls and rent them out to people who are now illegally hawking around the market. I think this will solve the problem of illegal hawking and give more people the chance to rent our stalls.
MR. CHAN TAK-CHOR (in Cantonese):-Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In fact, I hope Mr. CHAN could remember one thing. Some of these stalls are for restricted tender and the lessees are not required to give up their hawker licences for exchange. In fact, since the Sai Wan Ho Market has been operational for many years, it is understandable that some people are holding more than one stall.
MR. JOSEPH CHAN YEUK-SUT (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, can we make improvement to such a situation? Since there are many illegal hawking activities around the Sai Wan Ho Market, can we do something to improve the situation? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Page 44 of 126
Page 44 of 126
Page 44 of 126
76
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. B. A. BERNACCHI (in English):-The next question concerns the final paragraph on page 3. When you say, as they are trading inside private building referring to Tai On Building, ‘it is the responsibility of the management', that is, I believe the Urban Council policy rather than the law. Under the law, the Urban Council officials can go into private premises if invited to do so by the management but the Urban Council itself thinks that the shortage of GD Teams is such it excludes private premises. Is that right?
MR. CHAN TAK-CHOR (in Cantonese):-Thank you, Mr. BERNACCHI. Since you are a lawyer, I think you know better than I do about what the law says. But as far as I know, we are not authorised to go into any private buildings. Whether the management of Tai On Building has invited the USD staff to go within the Building to help clear the illegal hawking or not, I have no knowledge. If what you said is true, I will certainly ask our legal adviser to give us some advice to see whether we should send our staff to go into Tai On Building to take enforcement action and I will relay your views to the Committee for further discussion. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
MR. B. A. BERNACCHI (in English):-Thank you. Now, the next question, the penultimate question is on the second paragraph of page 4 and is about people, the licensees (or lessees) having the licences to more than one stall. At between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. when I visited the market, there was very few people either stall holders or, buyers upstairs and certainly in my view the licensees, or lessees were not there, although as I say in my question the goods were put out. If that is right, can the Chairman say or advance a guess as to where the lessees were.
MR. CHAN TAK-CHOR (in Cantonese):-Thank you, Mr. BERNACCHI. In fact, I have already made it very clear in my reply, according to our investigation, over 50 lessees possessed more than one stall within the market, which is not violating our tenancy agreement. So as I said in my reply, the stall holders may physically trade only at what they consider to be their most viable stall. They continue to display goods at their other stalls. If Mr. BERNACCHI wants to follow up on this issue or can give us better suggestions for the Committee to consider, I will be very pleased to say that this can be raised at the Markets and Street Traders Select Committee meeting.
MR. B. A. BERNACCHI (in English):---I am on the Markets and Street Trader Select Committee. So, certainly I will come. The final question is on page 5, the first sentence 'there is only a limited illegal hawking in the vicinity of the Sai Wan Ho Market'. In that sentence, do you mean street hawking as opposed to hawking on private premises because I can assure you there is a lot of hawking on private premises, particularly on the Tai On Building.
MR. CHAN TAK-CHOR (in Cantonese):-Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have repeated in my reply that illegal hawking within private premises is not within the ambit of the USD. So what I mean should be on-street illegal hawkers. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Page 44 of 126
1
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
77
MR. MAN SAI-CHEONG (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask a question regarding installation of air-conditioning in the cooked food centres. It is known that the USD is discussing the matter with the lessees. If air-conditioning is installed, then the licence fees might be increased to reduce our operational cost. I would like to ask whether it is a reason for delaying the date of installation?
MR. CHAN TAK-CHOR (in Cantonese):-Thank you, Mr. MAN. My answer is that this will be done in parallel. In fact the USD has already done some preparatory work to discuss whether they are willing to stop business for three months or accept higher licence fees to bear the cost of installation of air-conditioning. Once these matters have been examined, a committee paper incorporating all these points will be presented to the Committee for endorsement and I believe that the installation work will not be delayed.
MR. MAN SAI-CHEONG (in Cantonese):-I have a follow-up question. If, after discussion, the licence fees or rents of the cooked food centre in Sai Wan Ho Market are increased, will this affect similar markets and cooked food centres? Will stall holders make similar request and will it create a precedent?
MR. CHAN TAK-CHOR (in Cantonese):-Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is also our worry as well. In fact, in my reply I have already stated that there is no general policy on provision of air-conditioning for all markets and cooked food centres. Each case will be considered on its merits. My visit to the Sai Wan Ho Market indicated that air-conditioning is the only way to improve ventilation within the market and there is no other way to lower the temperature. I made the site visit there and I think that the request is acceptable. However, the matter must have the approval of the Committee before it can proceed. Should other requests come to light, they will be considered on their own merits.
MR. JOSEPH CHAN YEUK-SUT (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, since there are illegal hawking activities around the Sai Wan Ho Market, and over 50 lessees in the Sai Wan Ho Market are possessing over one stall, can we consider by the time their tenancy agreements expire, we take back these stalls and rent them out to people who are now illegally hawking around the market. I think this will solve the problem of illegal hawking and give more people the chance to rent our stalls.
MR. CHAN TAK-CHOR (in Cantonese):-Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In fact, I hope Mr. CHAN could remember one thing. Some of these stalls are for restricted tender and the lessees are not required to give up their hawker licences for exchange. In fact, since the Sai Wan Ho Market has been operational for many years, it is understandable that some people are holding more than one stall.
MR. JOSEPH CHAN YEUK-SUT (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, can we make improvement to such a situation? Since there are many illegal hawking activities around the Sai Wan Ho Market, can we do something to improve the situation? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Page 44 of 126
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.