HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
MR. ERIC WONG CHUNG-KI (in Cantonese):--I will be speaking on behalf of the Democratic Party to give a full account of two of the issues related to today's motion.
Firstly, the Democratic Party considers that there is a need not only to review the administrative arrangements covered by the Memorandum, but also to revise them. At present, our public works as well as electrical and mechanical works must be carried out by government departments. Bound by the Memorandum of Administrative Arrangements, we are frequently prevented from making prompt improvement to address public complaints about either slippage or maintenance problems. This is extremely unfavourable and unfair to the Council.
Let me cite a straightforward example. When the indoor swimming pool in the Kowloon Park is leased to schools for competition, the score board and timer always break down. They would remain so not just for one and a half days but for weeks because we have to ask the Electrical and Mechanical Department to carry out the repair. We would not tolerate a private contractor who takes several weeks to repair our facilities, would we? In such a case, we would have fired him. But it is precisely because of the administrative arrangements covered by the Memorandum that we are left with no choice.
If someone questioned us as to why projects like the UC markets and library are delayed in completion, I believe that those Members on the Capital Works Select Committee would agree with me that we could hardly do anything because we are not the builders. But the Council is the one being held responsible.
As to the question of whether the problem of the Central Library can be controlled by the Council, a lot of improvements can in fact be made, but under our existing arrangements with the Government, I can't see anything that we can do. Hence, the Democratic Party suggests that the arrangements with these two government departments covered by the Memorandum of Administrative Arrangements be revised so that the Council may invite open tenders with flexibility and in the interests of the public.
The second point is about our financial situation. In our earlier discussion with the central government over the financial arrangement for the next three years, we fiercely demanded concession on the part of the central government. After this while, we have quieted down, but shelving the problem is no solution for our forthcoming deficit.
It is probably due to this that the prevailing objectives laid down by the Council cannot be accomplished. We recently learned that the Assistant Director of Urban Services responsible for financial matters was wrecking her brain in cutting down on expenditure. In the days to come, even if we expressed disagreement or unwillingness, we might be forced to have the public shoulder the burden of sharing the expenses arising from our services, or
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HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
MR. ERIC WONG CHUNG-KI (in Cantonese):--I will be speaking on behalf of the Democratic Party to give a full account of two of the issues related to today's motion.
Firstly, the Democratic Party considers that there is a need not only to review the administrative arrangements covered by the Memorandum, but also to revise them. At present, our public works as well as electrical and mechanical works must be carried out by government departments. Bound by the Memorandum of Administrative Arrangements, we are frequently prevented from making prompt improvement to address public complaints about either slippage or maintenance problems. This is extremely unfavourable and unfair to the Council.
Let me cite a straightforward example. When the indoor swimming pool in the Kowloon Park is leased to schools for competition, the score board and timer always break down. They would remain so not just for one and a half days but for weeks because we have to ask the Electrical and Mechanical Department to carry out the repair. We would not tolerate a private contractor who takes several weeks to repair our facilities, would we? In such a case, we would have fired him. But it is precisely because of the administrative arrangements covered by the Memorandum that we are left with no choice.
If someone questioned us as to why projects like the UC markets and library are delayed in completion, I believe that those Members on the Capital Works Select Committee would agree with me that we could hardly do anything because we are not the builders. But the Council is the one being held responsible.
As to the question of whether the problem of the Central Library can be controlled by the Council, a lot of improvements can in fact be made, but under our existing arrangements with the Government, I can't see anything that we can do. Hence, the Democratic Party suggests that the arrangements with these two government departments covered by the Memorandum of Administrative Arrangements be revised so that the Council may invite open tenders with flexibility and in the interests of the public.
The second point is about our financial situation. In our earlier discussion with the central government over the financial arrangement for the next three years, we fiercely demanded concession on the part of the central government. After this while, we have quieted down, but shelving the problem is no solution for our forthcoming deficit.
It is probably due to this that the prevailing objectives laid down by the Council cannot be accomplished. We recently learned that the Assistant Director of Urban Services responsible for financial matters was wrecking her brain in cutting down on expenditure. In the days to come, even if we expressed disagreement or unwillingness, we might be forced to have the public shoulder the burden of sharing the expenses arising from our services, or
Page 263 of 654
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