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PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
105
(2) DR. RONALD LEUNG DING-BONG, Chairman of the Provisional Urban Council, moved the following motion:- Having regard to the Consultation Document on 'Review of District Organisations' published by the Government in June 1998, RESOLVED that the Council prepare a position paper to express its opinion and put forward a counter-proposal to the Government.
CHAIRMAN (in Cantonese):- I shall speak on the above motion.
This Council was set up in 1883 as the Sanitary Board and has since undergone transformation in various aspects and faced challenges. One of the greatest challenges we face would be the Consultation Document on Review of District Organisations published by government in June 1998. Indeed, this is the topic of our motion debate today.
When I move this motion today, I do so with a heavy heart as when I objected to the setting of a Regional Council in 1984. When we voiced objection in those days, we listed various kinds of relevant consequences including the lack of coordination among departments on enforcement work, overlapping and duplication of manpower and resources, poor delineation of work and so on. The Council was aware of such problems beforehand and we pointed them out to the authorities. However, the Government of that time ignored the strong objection raised by the Council and unilaterally set up the Regional Council.
Government is now again carrying out a review citing the same reasons as those pointed out by the Council in those days. If things have to come to this somehow, why did no one heed our opinion back then? Public opinion was not followed in the previous exercise. I hope that the SAR Government will not repeat the same mistake. I hope the authorities will not turn their back on public opinion again and plunge unilaterally into a new arrangement.
There are several points to note. At the meeting of the SCWC on 16 June, we passed a resolution to set up a Working Group chaired by me. The purpose is to sum up the opinions of all Members, agree on a position on the basis of varied input and prepare a position paper with substance and sound reasoning.
The Working Group has met thrice already. The opinions gathered have been collated by the Secretariat into a paper for the reference of Members. I want to highlight three points from that paper as follows:
1. It is now only 13 months after the establishment of the HKSAR. Is there really urgent need to push for a constitutional change? The answer is doubtful. In view of the improper handling of the bird flu and other food poisoning incidents at the end of 1997 and in early 1998, Government seems to be particularly keen on improving the administration of food safety and environmental hygiene. However, in so doing, Government is overlooking the footsteps of democratic
Page 84 of 606
Page 84 of 606
Page 84 of 606
PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
105
(2) DR. RONALD LEUNG DING-BONG, Chairman oF THE PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL. moved the following motion:-Having regard to the Consultation Document on 'Review of District Organisations' published by the Government in June 1998, RESOLVED that the Council prepare a position paper to express its opinion and put forward a counter proposal to the Government.
CHAIRMAN (in Cantonese):-I shall speak on the above motion.
This Council was set up in 1883 as the Sanitary Board and has since undergone transformation in various aspects and faced challenges. One of the greatest challenges we face would be the Consultation Document on Review of District Organisations published by government in June 1998. Indeed, this is the topic of our motion debate today.
When I move this motion today, I do so with a heavy heart as when I objected to the setting of a Regional Council in 1984. When we voiced objection in those days, we listed various kinds of relevant consequences including the lack of coordination among departments on enforcement work, overlapping and duplication of manpower and resources, poor delineation of work and so on. The Council was aware of such problems beforehand and we pointed them out to the authorities. However, the Government of that time ignored the strong objection raised by the Council and unilaterally set up the Regional Council.
Government is now again carrying out a review citing the same reasons as those pointed out by the Council in those days. If things have to come to this somehow, why did no one heed our opinion back then? Public opinion was not followed in the previous exercise. I hope that the SAR Government will not repeat the same mistake. I hope the authorities will not turn their back on public opinion again and plunge unilaterally into a new arrangement.
There are several points to note. At the meeting of the SCWC on 16 June, we passed a resolution to set up a Working Group chaired by me. The purpose is to sum up the opinions of all Members, agree on a position on the basis of varied input and prepare a position paper with substance and sound reasoning.
The Working Group has met thrice already. The opinions gathered have been collated by the Secretariat into a paper for the reference of Members. I want to highlight three points from that paper as follows:
1. It is now only 13 months after the establishment of the HKSAR. Is there really urgent need to push for a constitutional change? The answer is doubtful. In view of the improper handling of the bird flu and other food poisoning incidents at the end of 1997 and in early 1998, Government seems to particularly keen on improving the administration of food safety and environmental hygiene. However, in so doing, Government is overlooking the footsteps of democratic
Page 84 of 606
Page 84 of 606
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