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to residential developments, for example, in public housing estates and pavements nearby, these are the most suitable location for growing trees; and in the old districts, if we can identify these open spaces to plant more trees, then the effect will be the best. In the town planning standards and guidelines, we have requirements for open spaces and parks, but for older districts, for example, in Sham Shui Po, it is sometimes very difficult to identify appropriate sites for parks. But if we can make use of the limited open spaces available, we can also plant trees to achieve the aim of greening the environment. By planting more trees in the city area or amongst the concrete jungle, we will be able to bring a scent of natural environment to the city. So I hope that our work would be built upon our efforts in the past of cleaning the environment and start to green the environment as well. That is all I would like to say and I support the motion.
MR. MOK YING-FAN (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, very often we can see that in high-rise residential building and within these units many people have bonsai and have plants within their units and in fact in the USD we can see these plants, and even in this Council Chamber we can see plant all around. This reflects our natural love for things which are green and for flowers and plants. So in a healthy and advanced city, economic success is not all that counts. If the city cannot provide a beautiful environment, then I cannot say that this city is successful or advanced. I am very glad to see Mr. MAN proposing this discussion and moving this motion. I fully support his proposal that we can have such a working group to monitor the progress of 'Greening the City' programme. But if we want this campaign to be successful we must have cooperation from different sectors. First of all, at the administration level, this is a very important suggestion. Several days ago, in a meeting we were briefed about the central reclamation programme and I said that the architects and planners were not green conscious enough. They had not been providing enough greenery and open space in their plans. So if the administration is still looking at development from the angle of commercial development alone, then it will be quite frustrated for us who want this 'Greening the City' programme to be a success. It will remain a dream as indicated by Mr. MAN's speech. So we must have the support of the administration. This is very important. The Environmental Protection Department was newly established and it was not obtaining all the support it wants from the administration. So I think Hong Kong is still very backward comparing to many contrary cities where environmental protection is concerned. As for the Urban Council, I would like to say that it is my firm belief that this is the responsibility of our Council. The Council should be the authority to launch the 'Greening the City' programme. I am sure all colleagues would share my belief. So I do not think there will be a problem for the Urban Council to start working on this, but of course we must also rely on the full support and the cooperation of the USD. Another point is, if we want the 'Greening the City' campaign to be successful, as some colleagues have already pointed out, we cannot do this alone. It is not enough for us just to show interest, we must have the support from the Transport Department, the Drainage Department, the Highways Department etc., or else it will be similar to the tree-planting programme that we have launched in Chuk Yuen district some time before. We would like to plant several dozens of trees in Chuk Yuen but at the end of the day, the Drainage Department told us that it would not be possible. One final point which I think is very important is to mobilize the participation of the public. I think the Government and the concerned authority must have the support and cooperation of the public if it wants the campaign to be successful. Why do I say this? It is just like the 'Keep Hong Kong Clean Campaign' or beautifying a public toilet. We may be spending a lot of money and efforts in building nice public toilets. But if we do not have the public support and if we do not have a community which has a will to keep everything clean, then at the end of the day this programme or this campaign will not be successful. So we must mobilize the public and solicit their support. If we have their support then we will already be half successful. So I have a proposal to make. Perhaps the working group can consider this. I feel that we can solicit the support of our elderlies. We do have a lot of elderly people in Hong Kong and many of them are very interested in keeping house plants and in taking care of plants. Mr. MAN mentioned something about planting trees. Perhaps it is true that the Department does not have the manpower to green the city. Perhaps we have neglected the resources that we can have among the elderly people. Perhaps we should also encourage elderly people to participate in the 'Greening the City' campaign so that the programme will indeed be a success. This 'Greening the City' campaign is all very well but we must have the support from the administration and the public at large. Only so can we have the best result. I fully support Mr. MAN's motion and I fully support the setting up of a working group to monitor the progress and to look at the details of such a campaign. With these remarks, I support the motion.
MISS CHRISTINA TING YUK-CHEE (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, I am sure everyone of us would like to have a clean and beautiful city to live in. All along the 'Keep Hong Kong Clean' campaign has been very successful and members of the public are now aware of the importance of cleanliness and members of the public are becoming more and more environment conscious and greening is an important part. Greening the environment not only will beautify the environment but will also relieve the stressfulness of city life in Hong Kong. That is why I support that Hong Kong should have a comprehensive and long term greening campaign. At present the Urban Council's work has already fulfilled this duty. We could see that in UC parks and also sitting out areas, we have already planted a lot of plants and trees and also in May this year, the Department has submitted a programme for planting 500 trees along the pavement every year. This is a very positive approach to greening the environment and I hope that it will be successful. However, greening the environment should not be confined to the Urban Council. I hope that this work could be extended to members of the public as well as commercial organizations so that they will be made more green conscious and to participate
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to residential developments, for example, in public housing estates and pavements nearby, these are the most suitable location for growing trees; and in the old districts, if we can identify these open spaces to plant more trees, then the effect will be the best. In the town planning standards and guidelines, we have requirements for open spaces and parks, but for older districts, for example, in Sham Shui Po, it is sometimes very difficult to identify appropriate sites for parks. But if we can make use of the limited open spaces available, we can also plant trees to achieve the aim of greening the environment. By planting more trees in the city area or amongst the concrete jungle, we will be able to bring a scent of natural environment to the city. So I hope that our work would be built upon our efforts in the past of cleaning the environment and start to green the environment as well. That is all I would like to say and I support the motion.
MR. MOK YING-FAN (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, very often we can see that in high-rise residential building and within these units many people have bonsai and have plants within their units and in fact in the USD we can see these plants, and even in this Council Chamber we can see plant all around. This reflects our natural love for things which are green and for flowers and plants. So in a healthy and advanced city, economic success is not all that counts. If the city cannot provide a beautiful environment, then I cannot say that this city is successful or advanced. I am very glad to see Mr. MAN proposing this discussion and moving this motion. I fully support his proposal that we can have such a working group to monitor the progress of 'Greening the City' programme. But if we want this campaign to be successful we must have cooperation from different sectors. First of all, at the administration level, this is a very important suggestion. Several days ago, in a meeting we were briefed about the central reclamation programme and I said that the architects and planners were not green conscious enough. They had not been providing enough greenery and open space in their plans. So if the administration is still looking at development from the angle of commercial development alone, then it will be quite frustrated for us who want this 'Greening the City' programme to be a success. It will remain a dream as indicated by Mr. MAN's speech. So we must have the support of the administration. This is very important. The Environmental Protection Department was newly established and it was not obtaining all the support it wants from the administration. So I think Hong Kong is still very backward comparing to many contrary cities where environmental protection is concerned. As for the Urban Council, I would like to say that it is my firm belief that this is the responsibility of our Council. The Council should be the authority to launch the 'Greening the City' programme. I am sure all colleagues would share my belief. So I do not think there will be a problem for the Urban Council to start working on this, but of course we must also rely on the full support and the cooperation of the USD. Another point is, if we want the 'Greening the City' campaign to be successful, as some colleagues have already pointed out, we cannot do this alone. It is not enough for us just to show interest, we must have the support from the Transport
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Department, the Drainage Department, the Highways Department etc., or else it will be similar to the tree-planting programme that we have launched in Chuk Yuen district some time before. We would like to plant several dozens of trees in Chuk Yuen but at the end of the day, the Drainage Department told us that it would not be possible. One final point which I think is very important is to mobilize the participation of the public. I think the Government and the concerned authority must have the support and cooperation of the public if it wants the campaign to be successful. Why do I say this? It is just like the 'Keep Hong Kong Clean Campaign' or beautifying a public toilet. We may be spending a lot of money and efforts in building nice public toilets. But if we do not have the public support and if we do not have a community which has a will to keep everything clean, then at the end of the day this programme or this campaign will not be successful. So we must mobilize the public and solicit their support. If we have their support then we will already be half successful. So I have a proposal to make. Perhaps the working group can consider this. I feel that we can solicit the support of our elderlies. We do have a lot of elderly people in Hong Kong and many of them are very interested in keeping house plants and in taking care of plants. Mr. MAN mentioned something about planting trees. Perhaps it is true that the Department does not have the manpower to green the city. Perhaps we have neglected the resources that we can have among the elderly people. Perhaps we should also encourage elderly people to participate in the 'Greening the City' campaign so that the programme will indeed be a success. This 'Greening the City' campaign is all very well but we must have the support from the administration and the public at large. Only so can we have the best result. I fully support Mr. MAN's motion and I fully support the setting up of a working group to monitor the progress and to look at the details of such a campaign. With these remarks, I support the motion.
MISS CHRISTINA TING YUK-CHEE (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I am sure everyone of us would like to have a clean and beautiful city to live in. All along the 'Keep Hong Kong Clean' campaign has been very successful and members of the public are now aware of the importance of cleanliness and members of the public are becoming more and more environment conscious and greening is an important part. Greening the environment not only will beautify the environment but will also relieve the stressfulness of city life in Hong Kong. That is why I support that Hong Kong should have a comprehensive and long term greening campaign. At present the Urban Council's work has already fulfilled this duty. We could see that in UC parks and also sitting out areas, we have already planted a lot of plants and trees and also in May this year, the Department has submitted a programme for planting 500 trees along the pavement every year. This is a very positive approach to greening the environment and I hope that it will be successful. However, greening the environment should not be confined to the Urban Council. I hope that this work could be extended to members of the public as well as commercial organizations so that they will be made more green conscious and to participate
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