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thoroughly. Mr. Fred Li's proposal addresses the problem of the rising unemployment rate and this is a concern shared by everybody in Hong Kong. There is an abundant supply of unskilled workers in the market, including illegal workers. The employment figure in the manufacturing sector has dropped by 14% last year and in the service sector, the figure rose by 9%. The emphasis of the economy was moving from the manufacturing industry to the service industry. Does it result in a rise in employment? The answer is No. The retail industry saw a 9% drop in their turnover and this has resulted in more people in the service industry losing their jobs. Many fully employed workers have now become part-time workers or under-employed and there are figures to support the phenomenon. The percentage of fully employed workers dropped from 80% to 70% and for part-time workers, it rose from 15% to 20% and these are all unskilled workers. So, Mr. Daniel To's amendment really tallies with our own motion. If some people misunderstand the figures and make claims of their own, they are insulting the Democratic Party. We have to make sure that the general direction is correct and we are working towards the same goal, i.e. serving the Hong Kong community. As the Urban Council is a major employer, we feel that we have the obligation to alleviate the problem of unemployment. Of course, we cannot eliminate the problem completely. I fully support Mr. Fred Li's motion.
THE HONOURABLE LI WAH-MING (in Cantonese):-I would like to thank the 8 Members who spoke on the motion and the amended motion. I would like to make some response:-Mr. LAI Wing-lin said that the original proposer agreed to the importation of overseas workers. I really cannot agree with his statement and in fact, it was Mr. Lai who agreed to import overseas workers. I think he has also misinterpreted the motion regarding the contracting out of services and capital works projects through tender. When Mr. Lai talked about Jardines which operated restaurants in UC venues, they should realise that their services are not contracted by the Council. They are in fact only hiring our venues, like the snack shops within one of our Stadia. We shall not require them not to employ overseas workers and the motion will not bind the hirers of UC venues. If people were to hire venues for playing ball games, we could not ask whether their bosses have employed overseas workers. The motion simply targets at companies undertaking street cleansing, UC complex cleansing services and capital works projects. We will definitely require these companies not to employ overseas workers, but not those who hire or rent our venues.
Mr. Lai would like to polarise the question and asked whether disallowing the import of overseas workers will solve the problem. I think the matter is not so simple and I am not saying that with this motion, we will be able to solve the problem of unemployment. But, as elected Members, which include Mr. LAI, we should express concern towards the problems which the public were concerned about. The Home Affairs Department has recently conducted a survey. According to the survey results, while unemployment problem has never been a matter of serious concern to the public in the past, it is now placed
Page 164 of 485
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Page 164 of 485
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thoroughly. Mr. Fred Lt's proposal addresses the problem of the rising unemployment rate and this is a concern shared by everybody in Hong Kong. There is an abundant supply of unskilled workers in the market, including illegal workers. The employment figure in the manufacturing sector has dropped by 14% last year and in the service sector, the figure rose by 9%. The emphasis of the economy was moving from the manufacturing industry to the service industry. Does it result in a risc in employment? The answer is No. The retail industry saw a 9% drop in their turnover and this has resulted in more people in the service industry losing their jobs. Many fully employed workers have now become part-time workers or under-employed and there are figures to support the phenomenon. The percentage of fully employed workers dropped from the 80% to 70% and for part-time workers, it rose from 15% to 20% and these are all unskilled workers. So, Mr. Daniel To's amendment really tallies with our own motion. If some people misunderstand the figures and make claims of their own, they are insulting the Democratic Party. We have to make sure that the general direction is correct and we are working towards the same goal, i.c. serving the Hong Kong community. As the Urban Council is a major employer, we feel that we have the obligation to alleviate the problem of unemployment. Of course, we cannot eliminate the problem completely. I fully support Mr. Fred Li's motion.
THE HONOURABle Li Wah-minG (in Cantonese):-I would like to thank the 8 Members who spoke on the motion and the amended motion. I would like to make some response:-Mr. LAI Wing-lin said that the original proposer agreed to the importation of overseas workers. I really cannot agree with his statement and in fact, it was Mr. Lai who agreed to import overseas workers. I think he has also misinterpreted the motion regarding the contracting out of services and capital works projects through tender. When Mr. Lat talked about Jardines which operated restaurants in UC venues, they should realise that their services are not contracted by the Council. They are in fact only hiring our venues, like the snack shops within one of our Stadia. We shall not require them not to employ overseas workers and the motion will not bind the hirers of UC venues. If people were to hire venues for playing ball games, we could not ask whether their bosses have employed overseas workers. The motion simply targets at companies undertaking street cleansing, UC complex cleansing services and capital works projects. We will definitely require these companies not to employ overseas workers, but not those who hire or rent our venues.
Mr. Lai would like to polarise the question and asked whether disallowing the import of overseas workers will solve the problem. I think the matter is not so simple and I am not saying that with this motion, we will be able to solve the problem of unemployment. But, as elected Members on these include Mr. LAI. we should express concern towards the problems which the public were concerned about. The Home Affairs Department has recently conducted a survey. According to the survey results, while unemployment problem has never been a matter of serious concern to the public in the past it is now placed
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