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arrangement been made to adjust the establishment of Health Inspectors in view of the large number of cases there? If the same number of Health Inspectors is provided for each district, it is unfair for residents of the Eastern District.
MR. JOSEPH CHAN YUEK-SUT (in Cantonese):-Eastern District is a large district with probably more older buildings. Most window type air-conditioners in older buildings have this problem of water dripping and it is not that we do not have enough staff in the Eastern District. As so many cases were handled upon receipt of complaints, it can be concluded that we do have sufficient staff to handle the problem.
Mr. Daniel To Boon-man (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, can we contract out the work of searching for particulars of property owners so as to expedite the process? In the commercial sector, this is the efficient and economical way of handling things.
Mr. Joseph Chan Yuek-sut (in Cantonese):—We will review in the Select Committee to see if it is feasible to contract out this service. Maybe the Administration Select Committee can consult its Members on this. This suggestion of contracting out only one item of work so as to expedite the service will be thoroughly considered.
MR. STEVEN HUNG CHUNG-FUN (in Cantonese):-I would like to follow up on my previous question. Basically, I feel there are problems with procedures which are difficult to be solved. When a member of the public makes a complaint to the Urban Services Department, it will be referred to the Housing Department. When a complaint is made to the Housing Department, it will be referred to the Urban Services Department. An officer of the Urban Services Department once said clearly at a meeting of an Area Committee that such cases would be referred to the Housing Department. I want to know which statutory body should be responsible, ultimately responsible for this. Should the Urban Services Department be held responsible? If the case is with a Home Ownership Scheme, theoretically the owner is the flat owner, not the Housing Department. The Housing Department represents the manager. If we refer such cases to the Housing Department, are we being reasonable? That is the point I want to make.
Chairman (in Cantonese):—Is this a question?
Mr. Joseph Chan Yuek-sut (in Cantonese):-In fact, complaints from public housing tenants are usually directly lodged with the Housing Department. If a complaint is lodged with the Urban Services Department, it will be usually referred to relevant authorities for direct handling. If Mr. HUNG feels there are problems, we can deal with them as individual cases. In the past five years, we have dealt with complaints against water dripping from air-conditioners
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arrangement been made to adjust the establishment of Health Inspectors in view of the large number of cases there? If the same number of Health Inspectors is provided for each district, it is unfair for residents of the Eastern District.
MR. JOSEPH CHAN YUEK-SUT (in Cantonese):-Eastern District is a large district with probably more older buildings. Most window type air- conditioners in older buildings have this problem of water dripping and it is not that we do not have enough staff in the Eastern District. As so many cases were handled upon receipt of complaints, it can be concluded that we do have sufficient staff to handle the problem.
Mr. Daniel To Boon-man (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, can we contract out the work of searching for particulars of property owners so as to expedite the process? In the commercial sector, this is the efficient and economical way of handling things.
Mr. Joseph Chan Yuek-sut (in Cantonese):—We will review in the Select Committee to see if it is feasible to contract out this service. Maybe the Administration Select Committee can consult its Members on this. This suggestion of contracting out only one item of work so as to expedite the service will be thoroughly considered.
MR. STEVEN HUNG CHUNG-FUN (in Cantonese):-I would like to follow up on my previous question. Basically, I feel there are problems with procedures which are difficult to be solved. When a member of the public makes a complaint to the Urban Services Department, it will be referred to the Housing Department. When a complaint is made to the Housing Department, it will be referred to the Urban Services Department. An officer of the Urban Services Department once said clearly at a meeting of an Area Committee that such cases would be referred to the Housing Department. I want to know which statutory body should be responsible, ultimately responsible for this. Should the Urban Services Department be held responsible? If the case is with a Home Ownership Scheme, theoretically the owner is the flat owner, not the Housing Department. The Housing Department represents the manager. If we refer such cases to the Housing Department, are we being reasonable? That is the point I want to make.
Chairman (in Cantonese):—Is this a question?
Mr. Joseph Chan Yuek-sut (in Cantonese):-In fact, complaints from public housing tenants are usually directly lodged with the Housing Department. If a complaint is lodged with the Urban Services Department, it will be usually referred to relevant authorities for direct handling. If Mr. HUNG feels there are problems, we can deal with them as individual cases. In the past five years, we have dealt with complaints against water dripping from air-conditioners
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