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present, would be vacated in mid-1994 to give way for construction of a temporary RCP as a stipulated condition for reprovisioning of the existing facilities. This proposed temporary RCP, covering its large site of 560m2, is intended to replace the Shek Lung Street RCP as well as to temporarily reprovision the existing Yunnan Lane RCP during the re-development period. The Shek Lung Street RCP would then be used for storage of cleansing equipment and stores only, and eventually it will be demolished upon relocation of the fruit market.

MR. IP KWOK-CHUNG (in Cantonese):-I have three supplementary questions.

In paragraph 2 of Professor LEUNG's answer, it is stated that the AFD and the USD has no responsibility to manage the food market. But the Department has held many meetings with the related Associations. I would like to know which department is responsible for the management of the wholesale markets and what role should be played by the Urban Council?

The second question is: in paragraph 4, it is mentioned that the Department has increased manpower and vehicles to clear the backlog of refuse. It also mentions about trade refuse. Under the law, which department or association or users are responsible for this trade refuse? Does the Council have any specific ways of following up this trade refuse with the Association?

The third question is about enforcement action and manpower. We know that the loading and unloading period is at 2.00-4.00 a.m. A lot of rotten fruit and duckboards are left behind consequently. And during festivals, the refuse requires longer time to clear up. Say in September, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, it took two days to clear the refuse or fruits. According to paragraph 5 of the answer, it is said that the situation has recently been improved since September this year. But very recently, a primary school had to stop their classes because of the nuisance generated by the refuse. I have a question for the Chairman. Do we have sufficient manpower and can we have the operation earlier to clear up a bit?

PROFESSOR LEUNG PING-CHUNG (in Cantonese):-First, about the responsibility. The land use has been granted by the Lands Department and the term is for one year and hence this land use is not granted by the AFD or this Department. So the whole responsibility which does not lie with the USD or the AFD is acceptable and reasonable. Once the fruit has become refuse on the ground and an environmental problem, of course it is within the ambit of the USD. We definitely have a role to play and the USD is responsible. This is a quite hard luck to crack. Mr. Ip may have noticed that the answer does include some undertakings by the department, say in paragraph 4, that further liaison with relevant departments such as the Lands Department, the AFD and also with the relevant trade associations will be made. The relevant government departments and these trade associations should come up with some long term solution of the problem. This is the answer to the first question.

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As for the second question about what the Trade Association will do and I have a question for the Trade Association as well. The trade associations have undertaken to do something but they have not honoured their promise. According to the records of the Department, one of the associations did try to do something. Let me read out the records to you. The Kowloon Fruit Laan Association did hire some cleaners. It included a foreman with four workers to clear up the refuse. This is a small size of cleansing team. Of course, they were unable to clear up the whole area. According to record, the other association did nothing at all. Can we have means of penalizing these Associations? I cannot give an answer to this question but I hope we can have some ways of making sure they will do something. What is your third question?

MR. IP KWOK-CHUNG (in Cantonese):---Can we advance the operation time and can we have more manpower?

PROFESSOR LEUNG PING-CHUNG (in Cantonese):-I have got some figures from the Department. One thing certain is that the USD has also expressed great concern over this problem. Hence during the peak season they increased the number of vehicles and manpower. In fact, they had additional vehicles and manpower during ordinary time. Mr. Ip said that the dumping of refuse started as early as 4.00–5.00 a.m. in the morning, I think the Department has to review to see whether their operational time should tie in with the business hours of this market. I will relay the message to the Department for action.

MR. IP KWOK-CHUNG (in Cantonese):-One more question: about the legal responsibility of trade refuse, can you give me an answer?

PROFESSOR LEUNG PING-CHUNG (in Cantonese): This also requires an answer from an expert. According to my understanding, trade refuse means that if this wholesale market is not here there will not be so much refuse. But once the refuse are there it is the responsibility of the USD. We need a cleansing team to clear up the area otherwise we do not need to increase manpower and vehicles. This is the normal understanding of responsibility. But of course, we have to ask legal experts and the government who is responsible for the trade refuse. Of course, the Trade Associations are now polluting our city, what can we do to make sure that they follow the rules? Perhaps we need to look into this problem together.

THE HONOURABLE FREDERICK FUNG KIN-KEE (in Cantonese):-In Professor LEUNG's answer, he admitted that under the present circumstances we do not have an effective way of dealing with the problem. I think what the Department can do is to prevent the matter from deteriorating. In paragraph 5, Professor Leung said that the market would be in-situ for a number of years and its removal is the fundamental solution to the problem. Let's take an example from cooked food stalls. They definitely caused environmental nuisance. The only solution is to

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