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they will still be there. Many of them have triad background and I am sure all of you will understand what I mean by triad background. Very often at night we have to collaborate with the police to carry out joint operations, and they are the worst type of unlicensed hawkers. So I do not think they have anything to do with rising unemployment. I think the spirit of the motion should be supported, and the content of the motion is a bit misleading. If we want to pinpoint at the problem, we need to look at different categories of unlicensed hawkers and the degree of nuisance caused to the residents. Even if the unemployment rate is down to 1% I do not think that we will not have any unlicensed hawkers problems. The problem will still exist as long as they are able to sell their goods and as long as there are consumers and customers. Unless we are going to prosecute customers as well then we will be able to deal with the problem at its root. Then the problem will subside. I support the spirit of the motion, and the direction is right, but I think we need to do more homework. Since public expectations of us are great. I hope that Mr. WONG and all of us can work harder, instead of just looking at the number of arrests. We also need to look at the levels of penalty and prosecutions to determine whether they are effective. We also need to look at the special duties team to see whether the manpower is sufficient or not. We also need to look at the GDTs to see whether they are corrupt because I have heard that when they carried out raids, very often they were not able to arrest anybody. Some people might get prior information and leave the scene. So they could not arrest anybody on the spot. All the above matters need careful consideration. As regards whether the unemployment problems or the importation of labour have given rise to the deteriorating hawker problem, I still support the plea to terminate the scheme and we should give priority to local workers in finding jobs and in strengthening retraining for workers.
Ms. Jennifer Chow (in Cantonese): The problem of unlicensed hawkers has been a long standing problem and has been a subject of discussion among Urban Councillors. Unfortunately there is no solution to the problem. From my experience, the increase in the number of unlicensed hawkers is closely related to the economic situation. With a sluggish economy, low consumption power, rising unemployment rate and influx of immigrants, these are signs that the problem of unlicensed hawkers will deteriorate. So we have to nip it in the bud. Prevention is better than cure. We have to recruit more staff to control the operation of unlicensed hawkers. At present the unlicensed hawkers are trading everywhere, ranging from sitting out areas, footpaths to MTR exits, etc. Because of GDT's limited authority and lack of communication between departments, the GDTs are not able to carry out their duties effectively. So can the departments concerned consider some effective measures? For example, in public housing estates, some pavements are managed by the Housing Authority, but some roads are managed by the USD. The situation is that the hawkers who have been driven by USD GDTs escaped to the public housing estates, hence avoiding arrests. So could the Department consider liaising with the Housing Department to conduct joint enforcement action so that we will be
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Page 67 or 400
Page 67 of 485
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
45
they will still be there. Many of them have triad background and I am sure all of you will understand what I mean by triad background. Very often at night we have to collaborate with the police to carry out joint operations, and they are the worst type of unlicensed hawkers. So I do not think they have anything to do with rising unemployment. I think the spirit of the motion should be supported, and the content of the motion is a bit misleading. If we want to pinpoint at the problem, we need to look at different categories of unlicensed hawkers and the degree of nuisance caused to the residents. Even if the unemployment rate is down to 1% I do not think that we will not have any unlicensed hawkers problems. The problem will still exist as long as they are able to sell their goods and as long as there are consumers and customers. Unless we are going to prosecute customers as well then we will be able to deal with the problem at its root. Then the problem will subside. I support the spirit of the motion, and the direction is right, but I think we need to do more homework. Since public expectations of us are great. I hope that Mr. WONG and all of us can work harder, instead of just looking at the number of arrests. We also need to look at the levels of penalty and prosecutions to determine whether they are effective. We also need to look at the special duties team to sec whether the manpower is sufficient or not. We also need to look at the GDTs to see whether they are corrupt because I have heard that when they carried out raids, very often they were not able to arrest anybody. Some people might get prior information and leave the scene. So they could not arrest anybody on the spot. All the above matters nced careful consideration. As regards whether the unemployment problems or the importation of labour have given rise to the deteriorating hawker problem, I still support the plea to terminate the scheme and we should give priority to local workers in finding jobs and in strengthening retraining for workers.
Ms. Jennifer Chow (in Cantonese):-The problem of unlicensed hawkers has been a long standing problem and has been a subject of discussion among Urban Councillors. Unfortunately there is no solution to the problem. From my experience, the increase in the number of unlicensed hawkers is closely related to the economic situation. With a sluggish economy, low consumption power, rising unemployment rate and influx of immigrants, these are signs that the problem of unlicensed hawkers will deteriorate. So we have nip it in the bud. Prevention is better than cure. We have to recruit more staff to control the operation of unlicensed hawkers. At present the unlicensed hawkers are trading everywhere, ranging from sitting out areas. footpaths to MTR exits. etc. Because of GDT's limited authority and lack of communication between departments, the GDTs are not able to carry out their duties effectively. So can the departments concerned consider some effective measures? For example, in public housing estates, some pavements are managed by the Housing Authority, but some roads are managed by the USD. The situation is that the hawkers who have been driven by USD GDTs escaped to the public housing cstates, hence avoiding arrests. So could the Department consider liaising with the Housing Department to conduct joint enforcement action so that we will be
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