Page 408 of 498
Page 408 of 498
452
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. AMBROSE Cheung Wing-sum (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, the paper distributed to us seems to give the impression that the issue of vacant market stalls will be resolved after the full review. I have several follow-up questions and I hope that through them, we can see that the real situation is not so. The first question for the Chairman of the Select Committee is on stalls and IHL holders. I remember that according to the statistics of IHL holders, some 1,000 of our IHL holders have neither chosen stalls out of our 1,600-odd vacant stalls nor ex-gratia payment. I would like the Chairman of the Select Committee to answer this with a simple 'yes' or 'no'.
My second question, have the 1,000 IHL holders seen the 1,600-odd stalls many times and indicated they could not make a choice because the design and position of the stalls made them operationally not viable? That is my second question and I hope the Chairman of the Select Committee can verify it.
My third question. If most of the 1,600 stalls are commercially and operationally not viable and we call them 'dead stalls', basically, whatever we do to review or improve the situation, as stated in paragraph 5 of the reply, overall improvements to markets will not improve 'dead stalls'. From the operational point of view, it is like the demand for goods. Some goods will not be sold up to a certain point and we need to write them off. Will the Chairman of the Select Committee tell us whether such stalls are in a write-off situation?
My last follow-up question, if we are convinced that such stalls are in a write-off situation and should be classified as 'dead stalls', is it practical for us to continue calculating annual rental loss in respect of them? Yes, we can continue to calculate such rental loss year after year, but the practical situation is that they cannot be leased out not because of administrative or policy reasons, but because of insufficiencies of the stalls from the commercial and operational angles.
MR. IP KWOK-CHUNG (in Cantonese):—Mr. CHEUNG put forward 4 questions. The first question concerns whether we can solve all problems after a comprehensive review. In my reply, I did not say that we could solve all problems. We agree with Mr. CHEUNG that we may not be able to solve all problems, However, after the review, we shall be able to discover where problems lie and then work out solutions to the problems.
The second question concerns whether itinerant hawkers have ever viewed 'dead stalls' or stalls presently left vacant. I believe most hawkers viewed them and the majority did not choose any. As to whether they did not choose because the stalls were all ‘dead stalls' or that they wanted to wait until the last minute before choosing, we have to ask the holders of IHLs. What we do know is that these stalls have been offered to IHL holders who intend to move into markets for viewing.
The third question concerns the overall situation of markets. As mentioned in paragraph 5 of the reply, it is not simply a question of leasing out all stalls
Page 408 of 498
£198
Page 408 of 498
Page 408 of 498
452
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. AMBROSE Cheung Wing-sum (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, the paper distributed to us seems to give the impression that the issue of vacant market stalls will be resolved after the full review. I have several follow-up questions and I hope that through them, we can see that the real situation is not so. The first question for the Chairman of the Select Committee is on stalls and IHL holders. I remember that according to the statistics of IHL holders, some 1 000 of our IHL holders have neither chosen stalls out of our 1 600-odd vacant stalls nor ex-gratis payment. I would like the Chairman of the Select Committee to answer this with a simple 'yes' or 'no'.
My second question, have the 1000 IHL holders seen the I 600-odd stalls many times and indicated they could not make a choice because the design and position of the stalls made them operationally not viable? That is my second question and I hope the Chairman of the Select Committee can verify it.
My third question. If most of the 1600 stalls are commercially and operationally not viable and we call them 'dead stalls', basically, whatever we do to review or improve the situation, as stated in paragraph 5 of the reply, overall improvements to markets will not improve 'dead stalls'. From the operational point of view, it is like the demand for goods. Some goods will not be sold up to a certain point and we need to write them off. Will the Chairman of the Select Committee tell us whether such stalls are in a write-off situation?
My last follow-up question, if we are convinced that such stalls are in a write- off situation and should be classified as 'dead stalls', is it practical for us to continue calculating annual rental loss in respect of them? Yes, we can continue to calculate such rental loss year after year, but the practical situation is that they cannot be leased out not because of administrative or policy reasons, but because of insufficiencies of the stalls from the commercial and operational angles.
MR. IP KWOK-CHUNG (in Cantonese):—Mr. CHEUNG put forward 4 questions. The first question concerns whether we can solve all problems after a comprehensive review. In my reply, I did not say that we could solve all problems. We agree with Mr. CHEUNG that we may not be able to solve all problems, However, after the review, we shall be able to discover where problems lie and then work out solutions to the problems.
The second question concerns whether itinerant hawkers have ever viewed 'dead stalls' or stalls presently left vacant. I believe most hawkers viewed them and the majority did not choose any. As to whether they did not choose because the stalls were all ‘dead stalls' or that they wanted to wait until the last minute before choosing, we have to ask the holders of IHLs. What we do know is that these stalls have been offered to IHL holders who intend to move into markets for viewing.
The third question concerns the overall situation of markets. As mentioned in paragraph 5 of the reply, it is not simply a question of leasing out all stalls
Page 408 of 498
£198
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