Page 394 of 498
438
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
However, have we found that the number of arrests and prosecutions carried out at night is even smaller than that of those carried out in the morning? Have we received a multitude of complaints from the residents? The targets of those complaints are not unlicensed hawkers pushing little carts. They are unlicensed hawkers at food premises operating in the form of 'tai pai dongs', where stoves and 10-odd tables are placed on the pavement, and where the customers drink and play finger games and are served stir-fried dishes. Can it be that such phenomena occur only when the Hawker Control Forces are on duty during daytime? That is absolutely not the case.
Actually, results are proportional to the resources provided. In fact, in each district, there is one force in every shift that takes charge of verdicts, arrests and prosecutions. As a matter of fact, nine teams in nine districts responsible for regular clearance operations are already able to handle extremely adverse situations. However, we are still using centralized Task Forces. Some of the Councillors may have seen the achievements of our Task Forces. Visits to two to three black spots per night can by no means eliminate the disturbance that unlicensed hawkers cause at night to the residents. One can say that the disturbance generated by unlicensed hawkers at night is even more serious than that caused during daytime, and the residents experience the resulting noise and inconvenience only after they have gone home. In the forthcoming Working Group meeting, we hope that the Department will no longer bicker with the Working Group and evade its demands. I hope that we will truly acquire awareness soon like we did after the Councillors of the Committee had put forward their queries last time, that we will determine the reasonable allocation of resources as soon as possible, that we will strengthen the discipline, efficiency, and functions of the hawker control setup, and that we will truly put some resources in clearance operations at night and in the morning so as to tackle the problems concerned.
Also, I wish to talk about our financial arrangements. Irrespective of whether or not we should adopt emergency measures to cope with possible reduction in income in the future, the Urban Council, as a financially autonomous body, suffers from serious constraints when compared with other financially autonomous government bodies such as the Hospital Authority and the Housing Authority, and the source of those restrictions is none other than our Memorandum of Administrative Arrangements. We will find that rising expenditure for many of our projects is due to delayed completion and price increase. I believe that if we, like the Housing Authority, could break away from the Architectural Services Department, and if we did not necessarily have to approach the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department for the repair of audio-visual equipment and machinery, then we would be able to save up to ten million dollars in expenditure, and we could monitor our contractors directly and properly and improve the projects' efficiency. I feel that the Finance Select Committee, at its meeting to be held shortly, should face squarely
Page 394 of 108
Page 394 of 498
Page 394 of 498
Page 394 of 498
438
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
However, have we found that the number of arrests and prosecutions carried out at night is even smaller than that of those carried out in the morning? Have we received a multitude of complaints from the residents? The targets of those complaints are not unlicensed hawkers pushing little carts. They are unlicensed hawkers at food premises operating in the form of 'tai pai dongs', where stoves and 10-odd tables are placed on the pavement, and where the customers drink and play finger games and are served stir-fried dishes. Can it be that such phenomena occur only when the Hawker Control Forces are on duty during daytime? That is absolutely not the case.
Actually, results are proportional to the resources provided. In fact, in each district, there is one force in every shift that takes charge of verdicts, arrests and prosecutions. As a matter of fact, nine teams in nine districts responsible for regular clearance operations are already able to handle extremely adverse situations. However, we are still using centralized Task Forces. Some of the Councillors may have seen the achievements of our Task Forces. Visits to two to three black spots per night can by no means eliminate the disturbance that unlicensed hawkers cause at night to the residents. One can say that the disturbance generated by unlicensed hawkers at night is even more serious than that caused during daytime, and the residents experience the resulting noise and inconvenience only after they have gone home. In the forthcoming Working Group meeting, we hope that the Department will no longer bicker with the Working Group and evade its demands. I hope that we will truly acquire awareness soon like we did after the Councillors of the Committee had put forward their queries last time, that we will determine the reasonable allocation of resources as soon as possible, that we will strengthen the discipline, efficiency, and functions of the hawker control setup, and that we will truly put some resources in clearance operations at night and in the morning so as to tackle the problems concerned.
Also, I wish to talk about our financial arrangements. Irrespective of whether or not we should adopt emergency measures to cope with possible reduction in income in the future, the Urban Council, as a financially autonomous body, suffers from serious constraints when compared with other financially autonomous government bodies such as the Hospital Authority and the Housing Authority, and the source of those restrictions is none other than our Memorandum of Administrative Arrangements. We will find that rising expenditure for many of our projects is due to delayed completion and price increase. I believe that if we, like the Housing Authority, could break away from the Architectural Services Department, and if we did not necessarily have to approach the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department for the repair of audio-visual equipment and machinery, then we would be able to save up to ten million dollars in expenditure, and we could monitor our contractors directly and properly and improve the projects' efficiency. I feel that the Finance Select Committee, at its meeting to be held shortly, should face squarely
Page 394 of 108
Page 394 of 498
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