HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
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today's debate should be more realistic, more practical and go deeper into the core of the problem.
First of all, consultation on the organization and restructuring of the two Provisional Councils must be completed by September next year. According to the timetable fixed by the Government, the subjects for consultation will be worked out by the Government. In terms of depth and spectrum, the study to be carried out by the Government obviously will go beyond what we debate today. This is necessitated by the trend, because the Government would not rashly initiate a study of the reorganization.
I consider that in view of the present trend, this Council should not maintain a passive stance. It should be more proactive by examining the feasibility of the preliminary concepts put forth by the Government, such as the possible amalgamation of the two Councils, or the combination of the Urban Council with the District Boards into a new regional organization.
About the operation of the Urban Council, Members of the two Councils are the ones who have the best knowledge and understanding. They should prepare a proposal for the Government's full consideration. The problems we raise could include those that we may encounter at the time of amalgamation, the impact of the amalgamation, or certain structural clashes. I consider that the two Councils should have adequate communication and study on these complicated issues before arriving at a consensus.
Mr. Chairman, I consider that the imminent action is to set up a joint committee under the two Councils to carry out a study of the above-mentioned issues in response to the Government's existing way-forward for the review, or put forth counter-proposals for the Government's consideration.
With these remarks, I support the motion.
MR. LEE KWOK-keung (in Cantonese):—I believe that the motion put forth by Mr. Mok Ying-fan today is basically supported by the Democratic Party. We consider that the establishment of a mechanism to strengthen the communication and cooperation between the two Councils will be of certain benefit to the development of the two Councils, but at a time when the SAR Government has put forth a new proposal for a review of the district organizations, the promotion of communication and cooperation seems to be of secondary importance only. Now that the time has come for an overall review, we feel that there is a need for the Urban Council to play an important role, because there is a history of more than a hundred years behind us and we have accumulated a lot of experience in council proceedings.
Accordingly, we should take the initiative of promoting communication and joint efforts with the Regional Council, or provide more different views on the issues brought up by the Central Government. Basically, the Democratic Party supports today's motion, but we also hope to widen the scope of the debate to
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HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
311
today's debate should be more realistic, more practical and go deeper into the <core of the problem.
First of all, consultation on the organization and restructuring of the two Provisional Councils must be completed by September next year. According to the timetable fixed by the Government, the subjects for consultation will be worked out by the Government. In terms of depth and spectrum, the study to be carried out by the Government obviously will go beyond what we debate today. This is necessitated by the trend, because the Government would not rashly initiate a study of the reorganization.
I consider that in view of the present trend, this Council should not maintain a passive stance. It should be more proactive by examining the feasibility of the preliminary concepts put forth by the Government, such as the possible amalgamation of the two Councils, or the combination of the Urban Council with the District Boards into a new regional organization.
About the operation of the Urban Council, Members of the two Councils are the ones who have the best knowledge and understanding. They should prepare a proposal for the Government's full consideration. The problems we raise could include those that we may encounter at the time of amalgamation, the impact of the amalgamation, or certain structural clashes. I consider that the two Councils should have adequate communication and study on these complicated issues before arriving at a consensus.
Mr. Chairman, I consider that the imminent action is to set up a joint committee under the two Councils to carry out a study of the above-mentioned issues in response to the Government's existing way-forward for the review, or put forth counter-proposals for the Government's consideration.
With these remarks, I support the motion.
MR. LEE KWOK-keung (in Cantonese):—I believe that the motion put forth by Mr. Mok Ying-fan today is basically supported by the Democratic Party. We consider that the establishment of a mechanism to strengthen the communication and cooperation between the two Councils will be of certain benefit to the development of the two Councils, but at a time when the SAR Government has put forth a new proposal for a review of the district organizations, the promotion of communication and cooperation seems to be of secondary importance only. Now that the time has come for an overall review, we feel that there is a need for the Urban Council to play an important role, because there is a history of more than a hundred years behind us and we have accumulated a lot of experience in council proceedings.
Accordingly, we should take the initiative of promoting communication and joint efforts with the Regional Council, or provide more different views on the issues brought up by the Central Government. Basically, the Democratic Party supports today's motion, but we also hope to widen the scope of the debate to
Page 314 of 654
Page 314 of 654
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