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stated that consideration should be given to the views of the residents concerned. Although I am dissatisfied with the Town Planning Board in not excluding the commercial portion of a mixed commercial/residential building to be used for the above purpose, after all, the planning concepts are on the right track. I sincerely hope that colleagues in the Liquor Licensing Board and the department responsible for issuing licences to bathhouses will both give similar considerations. It is also my heartfelt wish that no liquor licence will be issued to premises which are clearly stipulated not to sell liquor in the documents like land leases and deeds of mutual covenant, so as to avoid further rebuke for our mistake by the Appeal Board as well as further demonstrations and protests by incorporated owners of buildings. In addition, we should prevent investors with problematic background to exert violences or pressures on flat owners, in order to compel these owners to yield to their demands, since they have spent a large amount of money for refurbishing their premises due to their lack of guidance from LLB or the unclearly defined guidelines of the Board.
I would like to make a solemn statement here on the operation of the Liquor Licensing Board. The Democratic Party and myself are strongly against the introduction of secret ballot system into the Board. The reason is very simple. As Councillors are assuming public offices and exercising public authority, they should be reasonably subjected to certain forms of surveillance as well as check and balance. Today's Urban Council does not have a so-called 'governing cabinet' to bear collective responsibility and thus Councillors should maintain the 'show of hands' voting system in the Liquor Licensing Board so that colleagues can at least know your views and voting inclination, not to mention that the voting is held in the private session of a meeting. I would like to reiterate that the Democratic Party is against the introduction of secret ballot system into the Liquor Licensing Board.
Secondly, I would like to pay tribute to the hawkers and members of the Hawker Control Team. We can see that many hawkers are the bread-winners of their family. In times of economic recession, the number of hawkers increases. Of course, we cannot allow hawkers to become public nuisances. However, I am most concerned about the Hawker Control Team members. Some of them were assaulted in June and November and were injured and sent to hospital. In December, somebody even proposed gathering one to two hundred people to confront the Police. The hawker concerned was subsequently arrested for gathering people in assaulting Hawker Control Team members. This should be considered as an organized crime. The Police and the Department should make a commitment to fight evil force. The Hawker Control Team should evolve in a disciplined manner, or it will be difficult to improve its management and to complete the mission.
Pavement obstruction by shops and hawkers is a long-standing problem which has caused nuisance to the residents. It is hoped that the situation will improve after all the task forces have commenced operation. If you go to Mongkok tonight, you will see some young hawkers. Some of them are daily rated employees, selling illegal CDs. Their employers are probably their triad big brothers' or 'distributors'. When there is an ambiguous area between legal and illegal activities, I am most worried that these youngsters will leap over the legal barrier and plunge into the
Page 351 of 485
Pag
Page 351 of 485
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
65
stated that consideration should be given to the views of the residents concerned. Although I am dissatisfied with the Town Planning Board in not excluding the commercial portion of a mixed commercial/residential building to be used for the above purpose, after all, the planning concepts are on the right track. I sincerely hope that colleagues in the Liquor Licensing Board and the department responsible for issuing licences to bathhouses will both give similar considerations. It is also my heartfelt wish that no liquor licence will be issued to premises which are clearly stipulated not to sell liquor in the documents like land leases and deeds of mutual covenant, so as to avoid further rebuke for our mistake by the Appeal Board as well as further demonstrations and protests by incorporated owners of buildings. In addition, we should prevent investors with problematic background to exert violences or pressures on flat owners, in order to compel these owners to yield to their demands, since they have spent a large amount of money for refurbishing their premises due to their lack of guidance from LLB or the unclearly defined guidelines of the Board. I would like to make a solemn statement here on the operation of the Liquor Licensing Board. The Democratic Party and myself are strongly against the introduction of secret ballot system into the Board. The reason is very simple. As Councillors are assuming public offices and exercising public authority, they should be reasonably subjected to certain forms of surveillance as well as check and balance. Today's Urban Council does not have a so-called 'governing cabinet' to bear collective responsibility and thus Councillors should maintain the 'show of hands' voting system in the Liquor Licensing Board so that colleagues can at least know your views and voting inclination, not to mention that the voting is held in the private session of a meeting. I would like to reiterate that the Democratic Party is against the introduction of secret ballot system into the Liquor Licensing Board.
Secondly, I would like to pay tribute to the hawkers and members of the Hawker Control Team. We can see that many hawkers are the bread-winners of their family. In times of economic recession, the number of hawkers increases. Of course, we cannot allow hawkers to become public nuisances. However, I am most concerned about the Hawker Control Team members. Some of them were assaulted in June and November and were injured and sent to hospital. In December, somebody even proposed gathering one to two hundred people to confront the Police. The hawker concerned was subsequently arrested for gathering people in assaulting Hawker Control Team members. This should be considered as an organized crime. The Police and the Department should make a commitment to fight evil force. The Hawker Control Team should evolve in a disciplined manner, or it will be difficult to improve its management and to complete the mission. Pavement obstruction by shops and hawkers is a long-standing problem which has caused nuisance to the residents. It is hoped that the situation will improve after all the task forces have commenced operation. If you go to Mongkok tonight, you will see some young hawkers. Some of them are daily rated employees, selling illegal CDs. Their employers are probably their triad big brothers' or 'distributors'. When there is an ambiguous area between legal and illegal activities, I an most worried that these youngsters will leap over the legal barrier and plunge into the
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