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PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
MR. CHAN KWOK-LEUNG (in Cantonese):--Mr. Chairman,
383
The recent political unrest in Hong Kong and the Mainland can be described as an upsurge of totalitarianism. Suppression of dissenting views has become more and more rigorous in the Mainland. In the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Government has lost no time in proposing dissolution of the two Municipal Councils after the re-unification. This, together with the recent publication of the Consultant's Report on "Food Safety and Environmental Hygiene Services in Hong Kong" and the re-introduction of appointed seats to the District Boards, are moves to step up control and suppression of democracy and are an extension of the totalitarian practices in the Mainland.
Our colleagues of the Democratic Party have just commented on the political implication of the overall reorganization of district organizations from a macro-perspective. So, I will give my views on the Consultant's Report on "Food and Environmental Hygiene Services in Hong Kong" from a micro-perspective. In fact, the entire report is based on the premise that there will be no Municipal Councils and the so-called proposal of reorganization has also been proceeded from a consideration of imposing bureaucratic control. Indeed, any changes to public policy or reorganization of structure are necessarily politically motivated and will entail certain political consequences which should not be overlooked. The report has, right from the beginning, delineated the proposal to set up a "Bureau for the Environment and Food" to co-ordinate all related matters with a view to putting an end to the present fragmentation of administration between Government departments. From an administrative point of view, this can undoubtedly improve work efficiency in the area of environmental and food hygiene. Unfortunately, the proposal does not mention who will be the policy maker of the new department after the reorganization and it is likely that the decision-making power will be shifted from an elected council to the bureaucrats in the end. The Consultant's Report prepared by the Government argues that this would be a more appropriate arrangement and tries to justify its argument by citing the findings of some opinion polls and giving a distorted account of the survey. Their aim is to transfer the power now in the hands of an elected council to the bureaucrats. The report also proposes the setting up of an advisory council to solicit the views of representatives of the public and professionals so as to achieve the objective of strengthening public participation. But we know that the setting up of a single advisory council is nothing more than a political gesture because the advisory council has no decision-making power at all. Enhancing public participation through reorganization was the major objective of the Review of District Organizations conducted earlier on. However, as it turns out, the Government will only allow the council to play an advisory role. From our experience, the decision-making process of such advisory councils as well as the bureaucrats always lacks transparency. As a result, the imposition of Government control will in future be accompanied by the setting up of
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Page 396
Page 395 of 606
PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
MR. CHAN KWOK-LEUNG (in Cantonese):--Mr. Chairman,
383
The recent political unrest in Hong Kong and the Mainland can be described as an upsurge of totalitarianism. Suppression of dissenting views has become more and more rigorous in the Mainland. In the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Government has lost no time in proposing dissolution of the two Municipal Councils after the re-unification. This, together with the recent publication of the Consultant's Report on "Food Safety and Environmental Hygiene Services in Hong Kong" and the re- introduction of appointed seats to the District Boards, are moves to step up control and suppression of democracy and are an extension of the totalitarian practices in the Mainland.
Our colleagues of the Democratic Party have just commented on the political implication of the overall reorganization of district organizations from a macro-perspective. So, I will give my views on the Consultant's Report on "Food and Environmental Hygiene Services in Hong Kong" from a micro- perspective. In fact, the entire report is based on the premise that there will be no Municipal Councils and the so-called proposal of reorganization has also been proceeded from a consideration of imposing bureaucratic control. Indeed. any changes to public policy or reorganization of structure are necessarily politically motivated and will entail certain political consequences which should not be overlooked. The report has, right from the beginning, delineated the proposal to set up a "Bureau for the Environment and Food" to co-ordinate all related matters with a view to putting an end to the present fragmentation of administration between Government departments. From an administrative point of view, this can undoubtedly improve work efficiency in the area of environmental and food hygiene. Unfortunately, the proposal does not mention who will be the policy maker of the new department after the reorganization and it is likely that the decision-making power will be shifted from an elected council to the bureaucrats in the end. The Consultant's Report prepared by the Government argues that this would be a more appropriate arrangement and tries to justify its argument by citing the findings of some opinion polls and giving a distorted account of the survey. Their aim is to transfer the power now in the hands of an elected council to the bureaucrats. The report also proposes the setting up of an advisory council to solicit the views of representatives of the public and professionals so as to achieve the objective of strengthening public participation. But we know that the setting up of a single advisory council is nothing more than a political gesture because the advisory council has no decision-making power at all. Enhancing public participation through reorganization was the major objective of the Review of District Organizations conducted earlier on. However, as it turns out, the Government will only allow the council to play an advisory role. From our experience, the decision-making process of such advisory councils as well as the bureaucrats always lacks transparency. As a result, the imposition of Government control will in future be accompanied by the setting up of
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