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40
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN (in Cantonese):-The Debate on the Statement of Aims for 1996/1997 which was adjourned from Tuesday will now resume. I call on the first speaker, Miss Ada Wong Ying-kay.
MISS ADA WONG YING-KAY (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, the motion to be adopted at this Debate is the Statement of Aims for 1996/97. Being a new Councillor, I have done a little homework. I have compared the Statement of Aims for the coming year with those of the current and past years, and have read the speeches by some Urban Councillors at previous Debates. The first thing I would like to discuss is the many problems which I think exist in these Statements, and I am going to cite five of them.
First, I notice that these Statements are all very general and their scope is very wide. They are very routine and most of the aims are the same as those in previous years. If the aims remain unchanged year after year, without any direction in the objectives and without a specific timetable for implementation, is there any actual need to consider the Statements every year?
The second problem I perceive is that the policy objectives and some specific implementation plans are mixed up together. Similarly, some standing aims are mixed up with new development items. For example, to ensure that the departmental organization and establishment are appropriate and cost-effective is a standing aim of the Administration Select Committee and should therefore be included in the Committee's Statement of Aims every year. On the other hand, the pilot project on the provision of information kiosks is a new item. However, they are listed side by side on the same level in the Statement of Aims. I think that aims of long-term should be separated from new, individual programmes.
Thirdly, the Statement of Aims has not indicated clearly the priorities. For example, the Statement of Aims of the Libraries Select Committee says that the Committee hopes to computerize new libraries, explore ways of enhancing the computerized library systems and acquire an additional 300,000 items in library stock so as to reach the target provision of 1 item per capita. If there are sufficient resources for the aims to be implemented in the same period, which aim will be accorded first priority? I think we should set out a series of aims with priorities for implementing them.
Fourthly, these Statements, strangely enough, have not mentioned anything about the allocation of resources. This is something which has been puzzling me since I became an Urban Councillor more than half a year ago. It seems that we always have sufficient money and need not worry about the budget. I remember that before I was elected Urban Councillor, I had learnt that the construction cost of the Hong Kong Central Library was 300-odd million dollars. But now the Department advises us that the cost has risen to more than $500 million because of some delay and plan revisions over the past months. However, the Department has
Page 326 of 485
526 of 485
Page 326 of 485
40
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN (in Cantonese):-The Debate on the Statement of Aims for 1996/1997 which was adjourned from Tuesday will now resume. I call on the first speaker, Miss Ada Wong Ying-kay.
MISS ADA WONG YING-KAY (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, the motion to be adopted at this Debate is the Statement of Aims for 1996/97. Being a new Councillor, I have done a little homework. I have compared the Statement of Aims for the coming year with those of the current and past years, and have read the speeches by some Urban Councillors at previous Debates. The first thing I would like to discuss is the many problems which I think exist in these Statements, and I am going to cite five of them.
First, I notice that these Statements are all very general and their scope is very wide. They are very routine and most of the aims are the same as those in previous years. If the aims remain unchanged year after year, without any direction in the objectives and without a specific timetable for implementation, is there any actual need to consider the Statements every year?
The second problem I perceive is that the policy objectives and some specific implementation plans are mixed up together. Similarly, some standing aims are mixed up with new development items. For example, to ensure that the departmental organization and establishment are appropriate and cost-effective is a standing aim of the Administration Select Committee and should therefore be included in the Committee's Statement of Aims every year. On the other hand, the pilot project on the provision of information kiosks is a new item. However, they are listed side by side on the same level in the Statement of Aims. I think that aims of long-term should be separated from new, individual programmes.
Thirdly, the Statement of Aims has not indicated clearly the priorities. For example, the Statement of Aims of the Libraries Select Committee says that the Committee hopes to computerize new libraries, explore ways of enhancing the computerized library systems and acquire an additional 300 000 items in library stock so as to reach the target provision of 1 item per capita. If there are sufficient resources for the aims to be implemented in the same period, which aim will be accorded first priority? I think we should set out a series of aims with priorities for implementing them.
Fourthly, these Statements, strangely enough, have not mentioned anything about the allocation of resources. This is something which has been puzzling me since I became an Urban Councillor more than half a year ago. It seems that we always have sufficient money and need not worry about the budget. I remember that before I was elected Urban Councillor, I had learnt that the construction cost of the Hong Kong Central Library was 300-odd million dollars. But now the Department advises us that the cost has risen to more than $500 million because of some delay and plan revisions over the past months. However, the Department has
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