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MR. CHAIRMAN (in English): Dr. LEUNG's point is to ask whether there is any clinical case that is to be traced to the source of infection. I agree with his view that polluted water to feed the fish does not necessarily mean that it will lead to diseases in consumers.
MR. PAO PING-WING (in English): Mr. Chairman, I would like to supplement that there is no official record or information to show that people who are poisoned by consumption of seafood.
DR. LEUNG PING-CHUNG (in Cantonese): I would like to ask a supplementary question. It is true that we do not have sufficient data to indicate the link between food poisoning and the use of seawater in fish tanks. But the possibility is still very high. So we cannot say right away that it is absolutely safe to eat such food and seafood. So I would like to ask Mr. PAO: is it necessary for us to address this issue and is it necessary for us to establish such a link or not? I have made some research and consulted some senior officials in AFD. The information I obtained is that they don't know whether there is such a link or not.
CHAIRMAN (in English): I do agree that there is a bacteria infection and also heavy metal contamination such as cadmium. If it is ingested through seafood, human consumption would definitely cause harm because of the accumulation of heavy metal in the body.
THE HON. MAN SAI-CHEONG (in Cantonese): Mr. Chairman, when I raised this question at the Public Health Select Committee, there were some officials informing me that this question was not confined to Eastern District and I was urged to ask this question in a public forum. He said that I should not ask this question as soon as possible as he had to obtain some more information. Since we would have an annual debate coming up soon, I feel this is rather urgent and that is why I ask this question. Moreover, tomorrow LegCo will have a debate on sewage treatment. I think this is very timely for me to raise this question. So even if we can't have any scientific conclusion, I would still like to remind the public that there is such a risk.
2. MR. FUNG KWOK-CHUNG asked the following question (in Cantonese): What is the progress of the Ma Chai Hang Sports Ground project in Wong Tai Sin District so far? What is the scale of the revised development project? What are the target dates for the commencement and completion of the project?
MR. ALBERT POON SHUN-KWOK, CHAIRMAN OF THE CAPITAL WORKS SELECT COMMITTEE replied as follows (in English): The question is in three parts. They concern the progress of the Ma Chai Hang Sports Ground, the scale of the proposed revised development currently under consideration, and the commencement and completion dates of the project.
I propose to respond to the first and second parts of the question at the same time. But before doing so, I would like to go a little bit into the background of the case.
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The concept of building a sports ground in Ma Chai Hang was conceived in 1983. A subsequent feasibility study carried out by the Architectural Services Department showed that the site was only marginally adequate for the purpose. Further investigation also revealed that, because of the almost square configuration of the site, it would be difficult to provide a standard track and field requirement of an 8-lane x 400m athletic track and a standard in-field soccer pitch.
Meanwhile, the site has been put to temporary use, first as a lorry car-park and then as a temporary housing area, allocated to the Housing Department for a period of 5 years up to 31 December 1992.
In light of the feasibility study carried out by the Architectural Services Department, the Department has conducted a review on the scope of development of the Ma Chai Hang project. In view of the site constraint, the department's preliminary view is that it would be inadvisable to continue planning on the basis of the original concept. Also, a reassessment of the need for a second sports ground in Wong Tai Sin District will have to be made since there is already a standard sports ground at Hammer Hill Road and three in other parts of Kowloon (namely, the Kowloon Bay Sports Ground, Sham Shui Po Sports Ground, and Kowloon Tsai Sports Ground). Present thinking is that a standard natural turf soccer-cum-rugby pitch, a portable 500-seat spectator stand, four tennis courts, and a two-storey service building with all the necessary ancillary facilities should be provided instead. Council's approval will be sought in due course.
Turning now to the third part of Mr. FUNG's question regarding commencement and completion dates, the position is complicated by the fact that the Housing Department has recently indicated that it would apply for an extension of the temporary allocation of the site for another 2 years due to an extreme shortage of temporary housing spaces. I understand that Wong Tai Sin District Board will be consulted on 7 January 1992. If the Housing Department gets a two-year extension, the earliest commencement date would be early 1995 and the completion date would be early 1997. If not, the respective dates would be early 1993 and early 1995.
MR. MOK YING-FAN (in Cantonese): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a supplementary question. Recently, I read in the newspaper that temporary housing residents complained that there were a lot of vacant spaces in the temporary housing areas and the Housing Department was not allocating these vacant spaces to people to occupy. Why does the Urban Council have to await the decision from the Housing Department as to whether we can build a sports ground or not?
MR. ALBERT POON (in Cantonese): As stated in the reply, the site is now under the Housing Department for use as a temporary housing area. Whether the utilization of the temporary housing areas is high or not is entirely the business of the Housing Department. As to whether this piece of land will be
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. CHAIRMAN (in English):---Dr. LEUNG's point is to ask whether there is any clinical cases that to be traced to the source of infection. I agree with his view that polluted water to feed the fish does not necessarily mean that it will lead to diseases to the consumers.
MR. PAO PING-WING (in English):—Mr. Chairman, I would like to supplement that there is no official record or information to show that people who are poisoned by consumption of the seafood.
DR. LEUNG PING-CHUNG (in Cantonese):-I would like to ask a supplementary question. It is true that we do not have sufficient data to indicate the line between food poisoning and the use of seawater in fish tanks. But the possibility is still very high. So we cannot say right away that it is absolutely safe to eat such food and seafood. So I would like to ask Mr. PAO: is it necessary for us to address this issue and is it necessary for us to establish such a link or not? I have made some research and consulted some senior officials in AFD. The information I obtained is that they don't know whether there is such a link or not.
CHAIRMAN (in English):-I do agree that there is a bacteria infection and also the heavy metal contamination such as cadmium. If it is injected by the seafood, human consumption would definitely cause harm because of the accumulation of heavy metal in the body.
THE HON. MAN SAI-CHEONG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, when I raised this question at the Public Health Select Committee, there were some officials informing me that this question was not confined to Eastern District and I was urged to ask this question in public forum. He said that I should not ask this question as soon as possible as he had to obtain some more information. Since we would have an annual debate coming up soon, I feel this is rather urgent and that is why I ask this question. Moreover, tomorrow the LegCo will have a debate on sewage treatment. I think this is very timely for me to raise this question. So even if we can't have any scientific conclusion, I would still like to remind the public that there is such a risk.
2. MR. FUNG KWOK-CHUNG asked the following question (in Cantonese):— What is the progress of the Ma Chai Hang Sports Ground project in Wong Tai Sin District so far? What is the scale of the revised development project? What are the target dates for the commencement and completion of the project?
MR. ALBERT POON SHUN-KWOK, CHAIRMAN OF THE CAPITAL WORKS SELECT COMMITTEE replied as follows (in English):-The question is in three parts. They concern the progress of the Ma Chai Hang Sports Ground, the scale of the proposed revised development currently under consideration, and the commencement and completion dates of the project.
I propose to respond to the first and second parts of the question at the same time. But before doing so, I would like to go a little bit into the background of the case.
Page 95 of 126
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
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169
The concept of building a sports ground in Ma Chai Hang was conceived in 1983. A subsequent feasibility study carried out by Architectural Services Department showed that the site was only marginally adequate for the purpose. Further investigation also revealed that, because of the almost square configuration of the site, it would be difficult to provide a standard track and field requirement of an 8-lane x 400m athletic track and a standard in-field soccer pitch.
Meanwhile, the site has been put to temporary use, first as a lorry car-park and then as a temporary housing area, allocated to Housing Department for a period of 5 years up to 31 December 1992.
In the light of the feasibility study carried out by Architectural Services Department, the Department has conducted a review on the scope of development of the Ma Chai Hang project. In view of the site constraint, the department's preliminary view is that it would be inadvisable to continue planning on the basis of the original concept. Also a reassessment of the need for a second sports ground in Wong Tai Sin District will have to be made since there is already a standard sports ground at Hammer Hill Road and three in other parts of Kowloon (namely, the Kowloon Bay Sports Ground, Sham Shui Po Sports Ground and Kowloon Tsai Sports Ground). Present thinking is that a standard natural turf soccer-cum-rugby pitch, a portable 500-scat spectator stand, four tennis courts and a two-storey service building with all the necessary ancillary facilities should be provided instead. Council's approval will be sought in due course.
Turning now to the third part of Mr. FUNG's question regarding commencement and completion dates, the position is complicated by the fact that Housing Department has recently indicated that it would apply for an extension of the temporary allocation of the site for another 2 years due to extreme shortage of temporary housing spaces. I understand that Wong Tai Sin District Board will be consulted on 7 January 1992. If Housing Department gets a two year extension, the earliest commencement date would be early 1995 and the completion date would be early 1997. If not, the respective dates would be early 1993 and early 1995.
MR. MOK YING-FAN (in Cantonese):---Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a supplementary question. Recently, I read from the newspaper saying that temporary housing residents complained to the newspaper that there were a lot of vacant spaces in the temporary housing areas and the Housing Department was not allocating these vacant spaces to people to occupy. Why does the Urban Council have to await the decision from the Housing Department as to whether we can build a sports ground or not?
MR. ALBERT POON (in Cantonese):—As stated in the reply, the site is now under the Housing Department for use as a temporary housing area. Whether the utilization of the temporary housing areas is high or not is entirely the business of the Housing Department. As to whether this piece of land will be
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