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date is given for the LDC project. Can Mr. Lau tell us whether the Council has any deadline or time frame for the LDC because I admit that the site is not being fully utilised at present?
MR. STEPHEN LAU MAN-LUNG (in Cantonese): Mr. Chairman, as far as I know, the subject is now under active consideration by the LDC and it has constantly liaised with the Department. As to when a decision will be taken I cannot give you an exact date and a definite time frame. But half a year ago, the LDC came to the SCWC meeting bringing plans with them to show to Members. It was assured that in future if a market was to be provided at Gage Street, at least 300 stalls would be provided and there would also be a cooked food centre. So both the Council and the Department are very keen on this. We hope that they can give us a reply as soon as possible.
3.
MR. B. A. BERNACCHI asked the following question (in English): The Yue Wan Market Stallholders complain:
(i) of the illegal hawking at Yee Fung Street outside the Chaiwan Indoor Games Hall in the morning. This is especially serious during Sundays and holidays and it affects the business of the Yue Wan Market. Is anything being done about it?
(ii) when the Council increased the rent of the market stalls selling there, did it consider that there were many stalls which appear to be only let for storage purposes?
MR. STEPHEN LAU MAN-LUNG, CHAIRMAN OF THE MARKETS AND STREET TRADERS SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):
Mr. Chairman, this two-part question concerns the Yue Wan Market and its vicinity. The first part asks about action being taken to curb illegal morning hawking activities in Yee Fung Street near the Yue Wan Market.
Yee Fung Street is a very viable area for illegal hawking activities and thus stringent hawker control measures continue to be taken by the General Duties Teams to deal with such activities. This can be evidenced by the fact that over the past six months alone, a total of 467 arrests were made in this area, in addition to 126 seizures of hawking commodities and paraphernalia.
The Department has recently changed its operational strategy and now puts its General Duties Teams on both static and patrol duties in this area in the afternoon shift, supplemented by raiding operations in the morning. This action was taken at the request of the local leaders and Yue Wan Market lessees and has improved the situation in the afternoons, including reducing the environmental problems in the evenings resulting from the rubbish left behind by the illegal hawkers. However, some illegal hawkers have accordingly been attempting to adjust their trading patterns and to trade more actively in the morning hours. The situation is thus being kept under close observation and any necessary adjustments to the Department's operational tactics will be made.
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in the light of such observations and experience to ensure as satisfactory a situation as possible within available staff resources.
On Sundays and Public Holidays, raiding operations by GDT squads are increased and joint USD/Police operations are also mounted. Indeed, six such joint operations were conducted during the month of November alone.
The second part of this question enquires whether, in determining the latest rentals for the Yue Wan Market, account was taken of the fact that many stalls seem to be being used for solely storage purpose.
For each and every market rental revision exercise, the Department requests the Commissioner for Rating and Valuation to assess the up-to-date Fair Market Rent in respect of each market stall in that market. The staff of the Commissioner, as their standard practice, conduct periodic site visits to the market and take into account all factors that are relevant to the business environment of the market and the business viability of each stall. Based on the Fair Market Rent assessed by the Commissioner, the Department calculates the appropriate revised rent for each stall in accordance with the formula approved by Council. This procedure was followed in the last revision exercise in respect of the Yue Wan Market, and is applicable to any market when the rents are due for review.
The existence of stalls being apparently used for storage purpose is not necessarily a negative indication regarding trading viability and/or the extent of demand for market stalls but, as I have already stated, this and all other relevant factors would have automatically been carefully taken into account by the Rating and Valuation Department.
MR. B. A. BERNACCHI (in English): I have two questions. First of all, on the first four paragraphs of the English translation. Why therefore is illegal hawking still so bad particularly now in the mornings. The illegal hawkers seem to have changed. As we go in the afternoon so they come in the morning. What is the Department doing?
MR. STEPHEN LAU MAN-LUNG (in Cantonese): Mr. Chairman, as illegal hawkers operate without a licence, they adopt a lot of flexibility. If the departmental staff step up their action in the afternoon it is not surprising that they have traded more intensively in the morning. But there are manpower constraints for the Department. Therefore, the Department cannot deploy sufficient GD team to station at Yee Fung Street in the morning and afternoon. Members are aware that there are 11 GDT squads in Eastern District. If all the staff are placed at Yue Wan Market then there will be an impact on other markets. So we can only adopt flexibility in deploying our staff. If we put the GDT on the morning shift, then of course the afternoon situation is not that good. The Department is still considering which is the best approach to curb illegal hawking activities.
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date is given for the LDC project. Can Mr. Lau tell us whether the Council has any deadline or time frame for the LDC because I admit that the site is not being fully utilised at present?
MR. STEPHEN LAU MAN-LUNG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, as far as I know, the subject is now under active consideration by the LDC and it has constantly liaised with the Department. As to when a decision will be taken I cannot give you an exact date and a definite time frame. But half a year ago, the LDC came to the SCWC meeting bringing plans with them to show to Members. It was assured that in future if a market was to be provided at Gage Street, at least 300 stalls would be provided and there would also be a cooked food centre. So both the Council and the Department are very keen on this. We hope that they can give us a reply as soon as possible.
3.
MR. B. A. BERNACCHI asked the following question (in English):-The Yue Wan Market Stallholders complain:
(i) of the illegal hawking at Yee Fung Street outside the Chaiwan Indoor Games Hall in the morning. This is especially serious during Sundays and holidays and it affects the business of the Yue Wan Market. Is anything being done about it?
(ii) when the Council increased the rent of the market stalls selling there, did it consider that there were many stalls which appear to be only let for storage purposes?
MR. STEPHEN LAU MAN-LUNG, CHAIRMAN OF THE MARKETS AND STREET TRADERS SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):—
Mr. Chairman, this two-part question concerns the Yue Wan Market and its vicinity. The first part asks about action being taken to curb illegal morning hawking activities in Yee Fung Street near the Yue Wan Market.
Yee Fung Street is a very viable area for illegal hawking activities and thus stringent hawker control measures continue to be taken by the General Duties Teams to deal with such activities. This can be evidenced by the fact that over the past six months alone, a total of 467 arrests were made in this area, in addition to 126 seizures of hawking commodities and paraphernalia.
The Department has recently changed its operational strategy and now puts its General Duties Teams on both static and patrol duties in this area in the afternoon shift, supplemented by raiding operations in the morning. This action was taken at the request of the local leaders and Yue Wan Market lessees and has improved the situation in the afternoons, including reducing the environmental problems in the evenings resulting from the rubbish left behind by the illegal hawkers. However, some illegal hawkers have accordingly been attempting to adjust their trading patterns and to trade more actively in the morning hours. The situation is thus being kept under close observation and any necessary adjustments to the Department's operational tactics will be made.
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in the light of such observations and experience to ensure as satisfactory a situation as possible within available staff resources.
On Sundays and Public Holidays, raiding operations by GDT squads are increased and joint USD/Police operations are also mounted. Indeed, six such joint operations were conducted during the month of November alone.
The second part of this question enquires whether, in determining the latest rentals for the Yue Wan Market, account was taken of the fact that many stalls seem to be being used for solely storage purpose.
For each and every market rental revision exercise, the Department requests the Commissioner for Rating and Valuation to assess the up-to-date Fair Market Rent in respect of each market stall in that market. The staff of the Commissioner, as their standard practice, conduct periodic site visits to the market and take into account all factors that are relevant to the business environment of the market and the business viability of each stall. Based on the Fair Market Rent assessed by the Commissioner, the Department calculates the appropriate revised rent for each stall in accordance with the formula approved by Council. This procedure was followed in the last revision exercise in respect of the Yue Wan Market, and is applicable to any market when the rents are due for review.
The existence of stalls being apparently used for storage purpose is not necessarily a negative indication regarding trading viability and/or the extent of demand for market stalls but, as I have already stated, this and all other relevant factors would have automatically been carefully taken into account by the Rating and Valuation Department.
MR. B. A. BERNACCHI (in English):--I have two questions. First of all, on the first four paragraphs of the English translation. Why therefore is illegal hawking still so bad particularly now in the mornings. The illegal hawkers seem to have changed. As we go in the afternoon so they come in the morning. What is the Department doing?
MR. STEPHEN LAU MAN-LUNG (in Cantonese): Mr. Chairman, as illegal hawkers operate without a licence, they adopt a lot of flexibility. If the departmental staff step up their action in the afternoon it is not surprising that they have traded more intensively in the morning. But there are manpower constraints for the Department. Therefore, the Department cannot deploy sufficient GD team to station at Yee Fung Street in the morning and afternoon. Members are aware that there are 11 GDT squads in Eastern District. If all the staff are placed at Yue Wan Market then there will be an impact on other markets. So we can only adopt flexibility in deploying our staff. If we put the GDT on the morning shift, then of course the afternoon situation is not that good. The Department is still considering which is the best approach to curb illegal hawking activities.
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