ENG-1956 — Page 178

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HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT

Society's Estate to go ahead. This resulted in a slight de- crease in the number of market stalls to 2,282.

The provision of additional public bath-houses and latrines proceeded in accordance with a long-term programme. Three new public bath-houses were erected, making a total of fifteen in the urban district. No charge is made for the use of these bath-houses, which have a daily attendance of over 4,100 persons.

At the end of the year there were 7,939 licensed pedlar hawkers, 1,252 cooked food stalls, 724 non-cooked food stalls, 5,556 fixed pitches (from which commodities of every de- scription from vegetables to haberdashery are retailed), 1,525 fixed pitches occupied by tradesmen and newspaper hawkers, and 339 ice cream hawkers. The stalls and pitches are regu- larly inspected, special attention being paid to their activities from the public health point of view.

Serious obstruction is being caused by cooked food stalls which are setting chairs and tables outside their permitted area on public foot-paths and scavenging lanes. This has led to a ban being placed by the Council on the issue of new licenses and on the transfer of existing stalls to new sites. Experiments are now being made to determine afresh what would be a reasonable and realistic amount of seating space for customers at these stalls.

The Gardens Division of the Urban Services Department is concerned with practical horticulture and botanical work. The horticultural section is responsible for maintaining and developing the Botanic Gardens; the grounds of Government House; public recreation areas and children's playgrounds in the urban areas; most grounds of government schools, offices, hospitals and quarters; and the grassed areas of the Airport. These areas now total about 425 acres. There are five main nurseries for the production of ornamental trees, shrubs, and other plants. Several thousand plants were grown in pots during the year for official decoration purposes, and for non-competitive displays at agricultural and horticultural