1996 — Page 22

Page 22 of 498

22 of 498

Page 22 of 498

1222

HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

queries directly; for public relations, a Chief Information Officer of the Department to chair the Steering Committee; and for turf work, a Deputy Director of the Department to chair the Stadium's Pitch Technical Committee. I can see that the Department participates in many respects and a lot of time is spent on the management of the Hong Kong Stadium.

Question three. I am aware that the BOG scrutinises the monthly reports submitted by the Stadium Manager and that the Standing Committee of the Whole Council (SCWC) also scrutinises the same reports. However, I am not aware of the BOG monitoring the performance of Wembley International or the SCWC presenting a relevant interim review report. I want to know if the BOG keeps a schedule to monitor or review the performance of Wembley International.

My fourth question refers to paragraph 12 of the reply stating that Wembley originally forecasted 19 to 31 event days. I want to know if we are talking about number of events, or about 19 to 31 days of activities in a year of 365 days. Also, how many of the 19 to 31 event days are earmarked for concerts?

My last question concerns the fitting-out cost of $175 million. As I understand, that sum of money is an advance sum paid by the Urban Council for the fitting-out of the Hong Kong Stadium. If we adopt the accrual basis, this sum should be regarded as a debt owed by the Stadium to the Urban Council. So I think paragraph 17 of the reply has failed to answer the question as to whether the sum of $175 million is a debt owed by the Stadium to the Urban Council.

MR. IP KWOK-CHUNG (in Cantonese): Thank you for your five follow-up questions, Miss WONG. I can answer some of your questions, but there is one I have to check past records before giving an answer.

The first question relates to policies. At the meeting in those days, it was argued that many standing policies of the Urban Council were not suitable for commercial operations, so it was proposed that the Stadium should be managed by a private management company. The decision to do so can be found in the relevant minutes of meeting and I can supply the information to Miss WONG.

The second question concerns the three-tier system of the Manager, USD and UC. I want to emphasise that the Manager is responsible for the day-to-day operation and promotion of the Stadium, especially promotion of the Stadium overseas. These are the Manager's terms of reference. With regard to USD, as pointed out in my reply, the BOG of the Hong Kong Stadium is responsible for monitoring the work of the Manager and concrete work is done through the Council's executive arm, i.e. USD. No doubt, I admit that the Department participated a lot in the beginning of the operation of the Hong Kong Stadium. That was because many problems had emerged and from the viewpoint of the Council or the BOG of the Stadium, we had the responsibility to assist. Now that the operation of the Stadium has fallen into place, the Department's input has gradually reduced.