HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
551
'RESOLVED that the Council freeze charges for one year, including licence fees, venue hire charges and market stall rentals, etc and further examine the reduction of hire charges and rentals of the Council venues, in order to alleviate the burden of different businesses and trades and the living expenses of citizens.'
She said (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, although Hong Kong has not suffered as much loss as South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand have in the Asian financial turmoil, it is not left unscathed. After direct confrontation with the financial tailspin, the Hong Kong society has begun to experience economic recession, with all the trades suffering from poor business. Tens of thousands of chicken farmers and traders were forced out of business by the outbreak of the avian flu last year and had to live on their savings for a period of time while a large number of investors sustained losses in the CA Pacific affair early this year. Because of all these, the people of Hong Kong are very worried about the economic prospect of Hong Kong and their confidence has dwindled.
The Liberal Party urges the Government to take heed of the situation and assume the responsibility of proposing specific measures to improve the economy and to weather the difficult times with the people. While we agree to the Government's adherence to the philosophy of prudent financial management, we urge that the Government should take some corresponding actions to alleviate the worries brought about recently by the economic recession. The Government should realize that its taking the lead in freezing fees is a way to remove complaints and respond to public needs, because the various fees and charges are part of their daily expenses. At this time when the economy is on the downturn, the Government should take the lead in freezing fees and charges so as not to aggravate the people's burden and stimulate inflation.
As Mr. CHEUNG Yu-yan just argued, the Council, as a provider of municipal services, should take the lead in freezing charges to help relieving the prevailing plight and also to demonstrate that we care and are concerned for the people's conditions and livelihood. While agreeing with the original motion, we wish to add one point and that is, we hope the Council will further examine the reduction of hire charges and rentals of Council venues, such as market stall rentals, because this would help out lessees who might be forced out of business because of exorbitant rentals, thereby forestalling the continuous growth in the rate of unemployment. We note that such a precedent was set when the rentals of chicken stalls were frozen. We also appreciate the theory that what one gets actually comes from what one has paid for. Reduction of rentals would ease the traders' burden and so, no increases would be shifted onto consumers. It would also avoid aggravating burden and stimulating inflation. In order not to dampen the public's desire in using our recreational and cultural facilities in this economic recession, we should study the
Page 557 of 654
Page 557 of 654
Page 557 of 654
Page 557 of 654
HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
551
'RESOLVED that the Council freeze charges for one year, including licence fees, venue hire charges and market stall rentals, etc and further examine the reduction of hire charges and rentals of the Council venues, in order to alleviate the burden of different businesses and trades and the living expenses of citizens.'
She said (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, although Hong Kong has not suffered as much loss as South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand have in the Asian financial turmoil, it is not left unscathed. After direct confrontation with the financial tailspin, the Hong Kong society has begun to experience economic recession, with all the trades suffering from poor business. Tens of thousands of chicken farmers and traders were forced out of business by the outbreak of the avian flu last year and had to live on their savings for a period of time while a large number of investors sustained losses in the CA Pacific affair early this year. Because of all these, the people of Hong Kong are very worried about the economic prospect of Hong Kong and their confidence has dwindled.
The Liberal Party urges the Government to take heed of the situation and assume the responsibility of proposing specific measures to improve the economy and to weather the difficult times with the people. While we agree to the Government's adherence to the philosophy of prudent financial management, we urge that the Government should take some corresponding actions to alleviate the worries brought about recently by the economic recession. The Government should realize that its taking the lead in freezing fees is a way to remove complaints and respond to public needs, because the various fees and charges are part of their daily expenses. At this time when the economy is on the downturn, the Government should take the lead in freezing fees and charges so as not to aggravate the people's burden and stimulate inflation.
As Mr. CHEUNG Yu-yan just argued, the Council, as a provider of municipal services, should take the lead in freezing charges to help relieving the prevailing plight and also to demonstrate that we care and are concerned for the people's conditions and livelihood. While agreeing with the original motion, we wish to add one point and that is, we hope the Council will further examine the reduction of hire charges and rentals of Council venues, such as market stall rentals, because this would help out lessees who might be forced out of business because of exorbitant rentals, thereby forestalling the continuous growth in the rate of unemployment. We note that such a precedent was set when the rentals of chicken stalls were frozen. We also appreciate the theory that what one gets actually comes from what one has paid for. Reduction of rentals would case the traders' burden and so, no increases would be shifted onto consumers. It would also avoid aggravating burden and stimulating inflation. In order not to dampen the public's desire in using our recreational and cultural facilities in this economic recession, we should study the
Page 557 of 654
Page 557 of 654
Page 557 of 654
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