Page 349 of 498
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
393
Administration Select Committee, the Finance Select Committee, and the Board of Governors of the Hong Kong Stadium, have no intention whatsoever to start working on their own plans. How come these select Committees have not considered the formulation of five-year plans? It seems we have contradictory views about five-year plans. On one hand, the Department does not want us to proceed too urgently, but rather hopes we will ‘cool down' the plans. On the other hand, the five-year plans have become our most effective tool in striving for fund allocation. What I am concerned about is follow-up action, finalization and implementation. Well, I don't want to elaborate any further.
Mr. Chairman, you have listed out many of the Council's achievements. Perhaps I, on the contrary, will reveal the Council's weaknesses by citing a few things that we have not been able to do properly. We have not been able to effectively control the expansion of the Urban Services Department's establishment. Some of our colleagues do not have adequate expertise. The new facilities we constructed have not been fully utilised. Our planning is devoid of comprehensive development goals. We have made mistakes in project designing. We have been unable to effectively open up new resources and cut down expenditure. We have not efficiently monitored the progress of our capital works. We have held many unnecessary and formal opening ceremonies and carnivals. Mr. Chairman, I believe we should face these problems squarely, and we would also count on your leadership to resolve these problems. Only by working out solutions can we demonstrate the value of our existence and our importance.
From the speeches of past Annual Debates, I can see that the previous Councillors have also valued our power to spend money independently. In his speech delivered in 1974, former Chairman M. G. FORSGATE expressed regret over the sluggishness of the progress of the projects, which was beyond the Council's control, and which, in turn, led to a surplus for the Urban Council. Referring to the huge surplus, he said: 'I trust no one around this table subscribed to such utter balderdash....Lack of progress in spending is something to be deplored and not regarded as skill in building a reserve. Our job is to utilise our financial resources in the best interests of the community.' In the last five or six years, we, for reasons unknown, have accumulated more than $3 billion of surplus, and we have been watching helplessly the depreciation of such an amount of money. Last April, I raised this issue and requested the Finance Select Committee to follow it up, but up till now there has not been any chance for solid discussion. At the Annual Debate in 1973, that is, sometime before the Council became financially autonomous, the former Chairman Mr. A. de O Sales said: “To paddle our own canoe from 1 April 1973, the Council will have to pull hard together....Certainly, supervision of the whole organisation must be made at much closer range than presently the case....Moreover, much more, if not all initiative will lie with the Council; so, if progress is to be made, then it will be entirely up to our own drive and
Page 349 of 498
Page 349 of 498
Page 349 of 498
Page 349 of 498
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
393
Administration Select Committee, the Finance Select Committee, and the Board of Governors of the Hong Kong Stadium, have no intention whatsoever to start working on their own plans. How come these select Committees have not considered the formulation of five-year plans? It seems
we have contradictory views about five-year plans. On one hand, the Department does not want us to proceed too urgently, but rather hopes we will ‘cool down' the plans. On the other hand, the five-year plans have become our most effective tool in striving for fund allocation. What I am concerned about is follow-up action, finalization and implementation. Well, I don't want to elaborate any further.
Mr. Chairman, you have listed out many of the Council's achievements. Perhaps I, on the contrary, will reveal the Council's weaknesses by citing a few things that we have not been able to do properly. We have not been able to effectively control the expansion of the Urban Services Department's establishment. Some of our colleagues do not have adequate expertise. The new facilities we constructed have not been fully utilised. Our planning is devoid of comprehensive development goals. We have made mistakes in project designing. We have been unable to effectively open up new resources and cut down expenditure. We have not efficiently monitored the progress of our capital works. We have held many unnecessary and formal opening ceremonies and carnivals. Mr. Chairman, I believe we should face these problems squarely, and we would also count on your leadership to resolve these problems. Only by working out solutions can we demonstrate the value of our existence and our importance.
From the speeches of past Annual Debates, I can see that the previous Councillors have also valued our power to spend money independently. In his speech delivered in 1974, former Chairman M. G. FORSGATE expressed regret over the sluggishness of the progress of the projects, which was beyond the Council's control, and which, in turn, led to a surplus for the Urban Council. Referring to the huge surplus, he said: 'I trust no one around this table subscribed to such utter balderdash....Lack of progress in spending is something to be deplored and not regarded as skill in building a reserve. Our job is to utilise our financial resources in the best interests of the community," In the last five or six years, we, for reasons unknown, have accumulated more than $3 billion of surplus, and we have been watching helplessly the depreciation of such an amount of money. Last April, I raised this issue and requested the Finance Select Committee to follow it up, but up till now there has not been any chance for solid discussion. At the Annual Debate in 1973, that is, sometime before the Council became financially autonomous, the former Chairman Mr. A. de O Sales said: “To paddle our own canoe from 1 April 1973, the Council will have to pull hard together....Certainly, supervision of the whole organisation must be made at much closer range than presently the case....Moreover, much more, if not all initiative will lie with the Council; so, if progress is to be made, then it will be entirely up to our own drive and
Page 349 of 498
Page 349 of 498
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