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parade at McPherson Playground scheduled on 6 July which was cancelled by giving notice on 4 June.
As to how outside organizations get to know of the vacated slots after the Department's receipt of notice of cancellation, if you look at the minutes of meeting, priority was given to the Association for bookings for June and July. As such, had the Association submitted new applications, we would have given them priority consideration. Applications from other organizations were directly handled by the Department and they were considered together with the Association's activities.
MR. KAM NAI-WAI (in Cantonese):—I would like to ask about arrangements to use the venues after cancellation of bookings. I note that the cancellation rate is quite high. Not counting 28 June with heavy rainfall, the cancellation rate came to nearly 25%. I wonder if the Chairman of the Select Committee had made a comparison and found that the cancellation rate for the Association's activities was higher. I wonder if the Chairman has discovered any case of hogging up of slots so that other organizations cannot book venues. I repeat that the cancellation rate for activities scheduled by the Association came to 25%. As revealed by the Chairman just now, notices of cancellation were given in April for 3 activities and as late as the end of June for 4 to 5 others. Have we gone into the above situations? This is my first question.
I remember clearly that there was one case of heated debate. The Association applied to hold football matches for a whole month from the end of May to the end of June. It asked for the use of 6 hard pitches for three hours each night. Does the Chairman know if any record was kept on the actual use of the pitches? Was there a case of hogging up slots? Have we checked whether the Association has made full use of the pitches for football matches?
MR. RONNIE WONG MAN-CHIU (in Cantonese):-Let me answer the second part of the question first. We cannot say on behalf of the Association whether there was the intention to hog up venues. In fact, concrete details were invariably given when the applications for venues were submitted. As to the reasons for cancellation afterwards, I do not have the information in hand. I would supply the necessary information to Mr. KAM afterwards.
I agree that the cancellation rate of 25% is high. We have to ask the Department to contact the Association in order to find out whether cancellations were due to insufficient time for preparations or inadequate arrangements.
MR. KAM NAI-WAI (in Cantonese):-One other question. I know that the Association was set up to celebrate the reunification of Hong Kong. Maybe there will be another association next year to celebrate the first anniversary of the reunification. Can we consider blacklisting the Association because of its poor record? Can we ask for concrete details before considering similar applications?
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parade at McPherson Playground scheduled on 6 July which was cancelled by giving notice on 4 June.
As to how outside organizations get to know of the vacated slots after the Department's receipt of notice of cancellation, if you look at the minutes of mecting, priority was given to the Association for bookings for June and July. As such, had the Association submitted new applications, we would have given them priority consideration. Applications from other organizations were directly handled by the Department and they were considered together with the Association's activities.
MR. KAM NAI-WAI (in Cantonese):—I would like to ask about arrangements to use the venues after cancellation of bookings. I note that the cancellation rate is quite high. Not counting 28 June with heavy rainfall, the cancellation rate came to nearly 25%. I wonder if the Chairman of the Select Committee had made a comparison and found that the cancellation rate for the Association's activities was higher. I wonder if the Chairman has discovered any case of hogging up of slots so that other organizations cannot book venues. I repeat that the cancellation rate for activities scheduled by the Association came to 25%. As revealed by the Chairman just now, notices of cancellation were given in April for 3 activities and as late as the end of June for 4 to 5 others. Have we gone into the above situations? This is my first question.
I remember clearly that there was one case of heated debate. The Association applied to hold football matches for a whole month from the end of May to the end of June. It asked for the use of 6 hard pitches for three hours each night. Does the Chairman know if any record was kept on the actual use of the pitches? Was there a case of hogging up slots? Have we checked whether the Association has made full use of the pitches for football matches?
MR. RONNIE Wong Man-CHIU (in Cantonese):-Let me answer the second part of the question first. We cannot say on behalf of the Association whether there was the intention to hog up venues. In fact, concrete details were invariably given when the applications for venues were submitted. As to the reasons for cancellation afterwards. I do not have the information in hand. I would supply the necessary information to Mr. KAM afterwards.
I agree that the cancellation rate of 25% is high. We have to ask the Department to contact the Association in order to find out whether cancellations were due to insufficient time for preparations or inadequate arrangements.
MR. KAM NAI-WAI (in Cantonese):-One other question. I know that the Association was set up to celebrate the reunification of Hong Kong. Maybe there will be another association next year to celebrate the first anniversary of the reunification. Can we consider blacklisting the Association because of its poor record? Can we ask for concrete details before considering similar applications?
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