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366
HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
In 1982/83, a large-scale District Boards election was held by the Government in the full development of a representative government. The District Boards advise the Government on matters concerning local environmental hygiene, traffic and transportation, community building etc while policies affecting local livelihood are presented to the District Boards for discussion and consultation. As the District Boards' concerns are mainly local in nature, most of them are related to environmental hygiene, markets and traders, cultural and recreational facilities etc. Since some of them are related to the Urban Council's functions, the Urban Council used to send Councillors to the meetings of the District Boards to listen to their views, answer questions concerning the Council's facilities and explain the Council's policies.
Later, the Urban Council even allowed the District Boards to have indirectly elected members and responded to their advice on improvement works. Take me for example. I am the Council's representative on the Eastern District Board. I reflected all the municipal problems in the district to the Council and improvement was eventually made. Examples were the Siu Sai Wan Stadium, provision of children's play-rooms in UC complexes, redevelopment of the Causeway Bay Market etc. Improvement has been made in a number of areas. Funding has also been provided to the District Boards while minor improvement works and clean Hong Kong activities have been held.
I therefore consider that the work of the Urban Council and the District Boards is inter-related. They are complementing each other and are operating well. There is therefore no need for urgent and substantive changes. As the Chairman mentioned just now, even if a review is called for, it should be carried out after 1999. The SAR Government has been set up for barely a few months and there are a lot of things that deserve our attention, such as housing, education, welfare etc. Since the Urban Council and the District Boards are working well with each other, why should a review be needed?
As to the merging of the two municipal councils, I have no strong objection. The services provided by the two councils are much the same, centering around municipal services such as environmental hygiene, culture and recreation. As Mr. Joseph CHAN suggested, resources could be centralized and the relevant municipal policies, standardized after the merger to serve the people of Hong Kong as a whole. I therefore have no strong views against the option. In fact, it is an option that we should give thought to.
Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support Mr. Joseph CHAN's motion. Thank you.
MR. SHANE ZEE SZE-YONG (in Cantonese): Mr. Chairman, I wish to speak on Mr. Joseph CHAN's motion.
In his policy address, Mr. TUNG Chee-hwa, the Chief Executive, announced that a review of district organizations would be carried out. According to the elaboration of some senior officials, one of the objectives of the review is to
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Page 371
Page 370 of 654
Page 370 of 654
366
HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
In 1982/83. a large-scale District Boards election was held by the Government in the full development of a representative government. The District Boards advise the Government on matters concerning local environmental hygiene, traffic and transportation, community building etc while policies affecting local livelihood are presented to the District Boards for discussion and consultation. As the District Boards' concerns are mainly local in nature, most of them are related to environmental hygiene, markets and traders, cultural and recreational facilities etc. Since some of them are related to the Urban Council's functions, the Urban Council used to send Councillors to the meetings of the District Boards to listen to their views, answer questions concerning the Council's facilities and explain the Council's policies.
Later, the Urban Council even allowed the District Boards to have indirectly elected members and responded to their advice on improvement works. Take me for example. I am the Council's representative on the Eastern District Board. I reflected all the municipal problems in the district to the Council and improvement was eventually made. Examples were the Siu Sai Wan Stadium, provision of children's play-rooms in UC complexes, redevelopment of the Causeway Bay Market etc. Improvement has been made in a number of areas. Funding has also been provided to the District Boards while minor improvement works and clean Hong Kong activities have been held.
I therefore consider that the work of the Urban Council and the District Boards is inter-related. They are complementing each other and are operating well. There is therefore no need for urgent and substantive changes. As the Chairman mentioned just now, even if a review is called for, it should be carried out after 1999. The SAR Government has been set up for barely a few months and there are a lot of things that deserve our attention, such as housing, education, welfare etc. Since the Urban Council and the District Boards are working well with each other, why should a review be needed?
As to the merging of the two municipal councils, I have no strong objection. The services provided by the two councils are much the same, centering around municipal services such as environmental hygiene, culture and recreation. As Mr. Joseph CHAN suggested, resources could be centralized and the relevant municipal policies, standardized after the merger to serve the people of Hong Kong as a whole. I therefore have no strong views against the option. In fact it is an option that we should give thought to.
Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support Mr. Joseph CHAN's motion. Thank you.
MR. SHANE ZEE SZE-YONG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I wish to speak on Mr. Joseph CHAN'S motion.
In his policy address, Mr. TUNG Chee-hwa, the Chief Executive, announced that a review of district organizations would be carried out. According to the elaboration of some senior officials, one of the objectives of the review is to
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