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612
HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
We fully support the spirit of stepping up hygienic quarantine and being responsible to members of the public but we really have some reservation about the aspect of implementation. I therefore wish to invoke Standing Order 21(15)(J) by recommending that this motion be referred or returned to the relevant Select Committee for action.
I beg to move.
MR. WONG KWOK-HING (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.
CHAIRMAN (in Cantonese):-Mr. IP Kwok-chung has moved a procedural motion under Standing Order 21(15)(J) and a Member has seconded it. Let us now deal with the procedural motion first. If any Member wishes to speak, he should speak on the procedural motion and not on the original motion. Is Mr. CHAN Kwok-leung going to speak on the procedural motion? Would Mr. CHAN please?
MR. CHAN KWOK-LEUNG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, as I said just now, only a few months in 1998 have passed but there have already been more than ten cholera cases. It is indeed a good thing for a Member to recommend some systems to step up control over shellfish and the formulation of some enforceable hygiene standards. Nevertheless, for some unknown reasons, which might be related to the fishing community or vested interests, or which might be technical or political ones, we all consider that such a simple, essential and urgent motion should not be carried here and now at the Council's monthly meeting. In fact, even if the motion is carried, the Department will still take time to formulate the standards, which will then be discussed at length by the Select Committee. However, the broad direction is that guidelines should be worked out right away.
A similar motion was already carried by the Regional Council at the end of last month. I earnestly hope that there is uniformity in the policies adopted in the whole of Hong Kong, from the New Territories to the urban areas. The issue is very pressing and I sincerely hope that Members will stop being prejudiced. They should forget about political or vested interests and endorse the motion as soon as possible for the sake of public well-being and public hygiene, or else food premises and shops selling foodstuff would have to follow different sets of hygiene standards. May I ask Mr. IP Kwok-chung whether the DAB would be ready to come forward and shoulder the consequences if more cholera cases broke out? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman (in Cantonese):--Would Members speak only on the procedural motion? Mr. Li Wah-ming please.
MR. LI WAH-MING (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, the procedural motion has come up all of a sudden, because a Member considers that there are
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612
HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
We fully support the spirit of stepping up hygienic quarantine and being responsible to members of the public but we really have some reservation about the aspect of implementation. I therefore wish to invoke Standing Order 21(15)(J) by recommending that this motion be referred or returned to the relevant Select Committee for action.
I beg to move.
MR. WONG KWOK-HING (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.
CHAIRMAN (in Cantonese):-Mr. IP Kwok-chung has moved a procedural motion under Standing Order 21(15)(J) and a Member has seconded it. Let us now deal with the procedural motion first. If any Member wishes to speak, he should speak on the procedural motion and not on the original motion. Is Mr. CHAN Kwok-leung going to speak on the procedural motion? Would Mr. CHAN please?
MR. CHAN KWOK-LEUNG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, as I said just now, only a few months in 1998 have passed but there have already been more than ten cholera cases. It is indeed a good thing for a Member to recommend some systems to step up control over shellfish and the formulation of some enforceable hygiene standards. Nevertheless, for some unknown reasons, which might be related to the fishing community or vested interests, or which might be technical or political ones, we all consider that such a simple, essential and urgent motion should not be carried here and now at the Council's monthly meeting. In fact, even if the motion is carried, the Department will still take time to formulate the standards, which will then be discussed at length by the Select Committee. However, the broad direction is that guidelines should be worked out right away.
A similar motion was already carried by the Regional Council at the end of last month. I earnestly hope that there is uniformity in the policies adopted in the whole of Hong Kong, from the New Territories to the urban areas. The issue is very pressing and I sincerely hope that Members will stop being prejudiced. They should forget about political or vested interests and endorse the motion as soon as possible for the sake of public well-being and public hygiene, or else food premises and shops selling foodstuff would have to follow different sets of hygiene standards. May I ask Mr. IP Kwok-chung whether the DAB would be ready to come forward and shoulder the consequences if more cholera cases broke out? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman (in Cantonese):--Would Members speak only on the procedural motion? Mr. Li Wah-ming please.
MR. LI WAH-MING (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, the procedural motion has come up all of a sudden, because a Member considers that there are
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