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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
He said (in Cantonese):- Mr. Chairman, I rise to move the motion standing in my name set out in the order paper. Fellow Members, control of unlicensed hawkers is one of the most important duties of the Urban Services Department. This is also an important task entrusted by the general public on the reconstituted Council. Unlicensed hawking is a long-standing problem. It has been plaguing the shop operators, and licensed hawkers causing traffic and transport problems, environmental nuisance, and endangering the safety of pedestrians. The problem of unlicensed hawkers is further aggravated by rising unemployment or under-employment. There are many factors contributing to the growth in the number of unlicensed hawkers. But unemployed or under-employed workers have resorted to hawking in order to earn a living. This is an important factor contributing to the increase of unlicensed hawkers.
Last month, the Review Select Committee had a hearing on appeals relating to the reordering of hawkers in Sham Shui Po. One applicant complained to Members of the Review Select Committee that she was a worker in a garment factory. She is 46 years old with two children. A family of four relied on her to earn a living. The applicant said that she had 8 interviews, but she was not able to get a job. The worker is not lazy, nor is she a thief. The point is that her rice bowl was broken, she was forced to become a hawker to earn a living. This is similar to a Chinese saying that who wants to be a beggar if he has money. At present, hundreds of people are facing the same problem. 118 unlicensed hawkers were registered in reordering of the hawkers in the Sham Shui Po District. Unlicensed hawkers are those who are unable to meet the eligibility criteria of the Council. Eligible hawkers are those who have been registered 5 times during Council's survey. According to the survey, 491 hawkers are recorded once, 359 recorded twice and 331 three times.
From January to March in 1995 the Hawker Control Force made 12,340 arrests of unlicensed hawkers, and of these 9,738 were unlicensed itinerant hawkers, 1,674 cooked food hawkers and 928 unlicensed hawkers selling other types of food. The figures released by USD are just the tip of the iceberg. The figures only show that USD has taken prosecution action and it does not mean that the problem of unlicensed hawkers has been resolved. They remain to be unlicensed hawkers. They are not thieves and they only want to earn a living. Prosecuting and arresting them cannot solve their problems. Instead, they should be actively assisted in solving the problem of unemployment or under-employment in order to let them have a long-lasting and secure employment, otherwise they will be driven into breaking the law, thus creating many tragedies and escalating social conflict and unrest.
In view of the above, we have to find a solution to solve the long-term and short-term problem of unlicensed hawkers. The whole community should be alerted of this problem. This is not an issue that can be handled by the Urban Council alone. A two-pronged approach may achieve a more effective result. As far as short-term measure is concerned, the USD has the relentless responsibility to put more resources in hawker control to put unlicensed hawking under control, to reduce environmental nuisance, to ensure smooth traffic flow, and also to maintain legal and orderly business to take place. In the long term, we should urge the Administration to face squarely the
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
He said (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I rise to move the motion standing in my name set out in the order paper. Fellow Members, control of unlicensed hawkers is one of the most important duties of the Urban Services Department. This is also an important task entrusted by the general public on the reconstituted Council. Unlicensed hawking is a long-standing problem. It has been plaguing the shop operators, and licensed hawkers causing traffic and transport problems, environmental nuisance, and endangering the safety of pedestrians. The problem of unlicensed hawkers is further aggravated by rising unemployment or under-employment. There are many factors contributing to the growth in the number of unlicensed hawkers. But unemployed or under-employed workers have resorted to hawking in order to earn a living. This is an important factor contributing to the increase of unlicensed hawkers. Last month, the Review Select Committee had a hearing on appeals relating to the reordering of hawkers in Sham Shui Po. One applicant complained to Members of the Review Select Committee that she was a worker in a garment factory. She is 46 years old with two children. A family of four relied on her to earn a living. The applicant said that she had 8 interviews, but she was not able to get a job. The worker is not lazy, nor is she a thief. The point is that her rice bowl was broken, she was forced to become a hawker to earn a living. This is similar to a Chinese saying that who wants to be a beggar if he has money. At present. hundreds of people are facing the same problem. 1 18 unlicensed hawkers were registered in reordering of the hawkers in the Sham Shui Po District. Unlicensed hawkers are those who are unable to meet the eligibility criteria of the Council. Eligible hawkers are those who have been registered 5 times during Council's survey. According to the survey, 491 hawkers are recorded once, 359 recorded twice and 331 three times. From January to March in 1995 the Hawker Control Force made 12 340 arrests of unlicensed hawkers. and of these 9738 were unlicensed itinerant hawkers, I 674 cooked food hawkers and 928 unlicensed hawkers selling other types of food. The figures released by USD are just the tip of the iceberg. The figures only show that USD has taken prosecution action and it does not mean that the problem of unlicensed hawkers has been resolved. They remain to be unlicensed hawkers. They are not thieves and they only want to earn a living. Prosecuting and arresting them cannot solve their problems. Instead, they should be actively assisted in solving the problem of unemployment or under-employment in order to let them have a long lasting and secure employment, otherwise they will be driven into breaking the law, thus creating many tragedies and escalating social conflict and unrest. In view of the above, we have to find a solution to solve the long term and short term problem of unlicensed hawkers. The whole community should be alerted of this problem. This is not an issue that can be handled by the Urban Council alone. A two-pronged approach may achieve a more effective result. As far as short term measure is concerned, the USD has the relentless responsibility to put more resources in hawker control to put unlicensed hawking under control, to reduce environmental nuisance, to ensure smooth traffic flow, and also to maintain legal and orderly business to take place. In the long term, we should urge the Administration to face squarely the
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