HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
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Revenues for our approval. I think we have to discuss with the Government the adoption of a better accounting system for stating our assets.
Recently, some Members of the Legislative Council have suggested that the Legislative Council should monitor how the Urban Council spends public funds. I feel that this is an insult to our monitoring function and shows that our working ability is being doubted. It seems that they want to cast a vote of no-confidence on our capabilities. Mr. Chairman, I think that before the other councils interfere with our autonomy, we should conduct a comprehensive review on our own role, our financial autonomy and our relationship with the Central Government. I notice that in the 23 years since the signing of the Memorandum of Administrative Arrangements, the ambits and functions of the Council have changed. In many areas, for instance, we are no longer the sole provider of services. In culture and sports, there are other statutory bodies competing with us. I also notice that no one has ever assured us that the Council will continue to exist after 1997, and that if so, our functions, autonomy and policy-making powers will remain unchanged. Two days ago, Mr. Ambrose CHEUNG Wing-sum proposed that we should set up a Select Committee to study the transition of the Council. Besides studying this issue, I hope that the Committee will also review our relationship with the Central Government as specified in the 1973 Memorandum of Administrative Arrangements. I think that working on the Five-Year Plans and conducting this comprehensive review are our most important tasks in the 1½ years to come.
Mr. Chairman, these are my remarks.
Ms. JENNIFER CHOW KIT-BING (in Cantonese):- Mr. Chairman,
Everybody Eats at Ease
Everybody has a new wish at the beginning of a year. My wish is that everybody can eat at ease. It is a well-known fact that the harbour of Hong Kong is polluted. In 1990, Friends of the Earth, an environmental group, urged the Government to pay more attention to the serious pollution of Hong Kong waters. If measures are not taken immediately, the people of Hong Kong may suffer from chronic intoxication through eating seafood. If the sewage with heavy metal contents flows into the harbour and remains permanently in the ecological system of all kinds of seafood, shellfish will be the most seriously contaminated. After we have eaten such seafood, the toxins will remain in our body. The process of toxin accumulation is so slow that signs of poisoning will only surface after many years. Let us take a look at some statistics. Last year there were 251 cases of food poisoning victimizing 971 persons. In 1994, there were 56 cases of cholera, caused by contaminated seafood. From 1990 to 1993, there were an average of 1,000 cases of hepatitis per year. As hepatitis is propagated mainly through contaminated food, we can see the seriousness of the unhygienic condition of seafood and the great damage done to our health. Therefore, the most urgent task facing us is to effectively monitor the hygienic standard of seafood. I have received quite a few complaints lodged by people who became infected after eating contaminated
Page 329 of 485
Page 329 of 485
Page 329 of 485
Page 329 of 485
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
43
Revenues for our approval. I think we have to discuss with the Government the adoption of a better accounting system for stating our assets.
Recently, some Members of the Legislative Council have suggested that the Legislative Council should monitor how the Urban Council spends public funds. I feel that this is an insult to our monitoring function and shows that our working ability is being doubted. It seems that they want to cast a vote of no-confidence on our capabilities. Mr. Chairman, I think that before the other councils interfere with our autonomy, we should conduct a comprehensive review on our own role, our financial autonomy and our relationship with the Central Government. I notice that in the 23 years since the signing of the Memorandum of Administrative Arrangements, the ambits and functions of the Council have changed. In many areas, for instance, we are no longer the sole provider of services. In culture and sports, there are other statutory bodies competing with us. I also notice that no one has ever assured us that the Council will continue to exist after 1997, and that if so, our functions, autonomy and policy-making powers will remain unchanged. Two days ago, Mr. Ambrose CHEUNG Wing-sum proposed that we should set up a Select Committee to study the transition of the Council. Besides studying this issue, I hope that the Committee will also review our relationship with the Central Government as specified in the 1973 Memorandum of Administrative Arrangements. I think that working on the Five-Year Plans and conducting this comprehensive review are our most important tasks in the 11⁄2 years to come.
Mr. Chairman, these are my remarks.
Ms. JENNIFER CHOW KIT-BING (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman,
Everybody Eats at Ease
Everybody has a new wish at the beginning of a year. My wish is that everybody can eat at ease. It is a well-known fact that the harbour of Hong Kong is polluted. In 1990, Friends of the Earth, an environmental group, urged the Government to pay more attention to the serious pollution of Hong Kong waters. If measures are not taken immediately, the people of Hong Kong may suffer from chronic intoxication through eating seafood. If the sewage with heavy metal contents flows into the harbour and remains permanently in the ecological system of all kinds of seafood, shellfish will be the most seriously contaminated. After we have eaten such seafood, the toxins will remain in our body. The process of toxin accumulation is so slow that signs of poisoning will only surface after many years. Let us take a look at some statistics. Last year there were 251 cases of food poisoning victimizing 971 persons. In 1994, there were 56 cases of cholera, caused by contaminated seafood. From 1990 to 1993, there were an average of 1 000 cases of hepatitis per year. As hepatitis is propagated mainly through contaminated food, we can see the seriousness of the unhygienic condition of seafood and the great damage done to our health. Therefore, the most urgent task facing us is to effectively monitor the hygienic standard of seafood. I have received quite a few complaints lodged by people who became infected after eating contaminated
Page 329 of 485.
Page 329 of 485
Page 329 of 485
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