ENG-1983 — Page 148

HEALTH

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Street in Ho Man Tin, and To Kwa Wan. The Urban Council Aberdeen Complex, which was completed in 1982, officially opened during the year and is the best equipped of all the council's multi-user buildings. It houses a market offering the complete range of retail foodstuffs and daily necessities, a public library, and an indoor games hall.

In the New Territories the government runs 38 public markets outside public housing estates with accommodation for more than 3 940 stallholders. Five new markets were completed during the year, giving an additional 390 stalls.

Hawkers

The management and control of hawkers in the urban areas is the responsibility of the Urban Council, while the New Territories Services Department undertakes this work in the New Territories. There are 33 700 licensed hawkers throughout the territory, more than 3 000 of whom are situated in off-street_bazaars. The number of unlicensed hawkers tends to fluctuate from year to year, but it was estimated that there were about 19 000 in 1983.

The main objectives of the authorities are to reduce on-street hawking by moving hawkers into public markets, and to confine on-street hawkers to licensed fixed pitches in clearly defined areas. Under the control of district urban services officers, the General Duties Teams have a manpower of more than 2 800 who work in close co-operation with the Royal Hong Kong Police Force in containing the problem of illegal hawking and taking necessary enforcement action.

Abattoirs

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The two government abattoirs - at Kennedy Town on Hong Kong Island and at Cheung Sha Wan in Kowloon continued to supply the bulk of the population with fresh meat. During the year, 3 023 000 pigs, 162 000 cattle and 11 000 goats were slaughtered in these two abattoirs.

The two licensed private slaughterhouses at Yuen Long and Tai Po continued to provide slaughtering services in the New Territories while another private slaughterhouse in Kwai Chung - Hong Kong's first private slaughterhouse with mechanised line slaughtering facilities came into operation in late 1983. A new government abattoir planned for Sheung Shui will serve the needs of the new towns in the northeastern New Territories. Animals slaughtered in the abattoirs and private slaughterhouses are inspected by specially trained health inspectors of the Urban Services Department.

Cemeteries and Crematoria

There are five public cemeteries, two public crematoria and nine private cemeteries in the New Territories, and five public cemeteries, two public crematoria, 18 private cemeteries and two war cemeteries under the management of the Commonwealth War Grave Commission in the urban areas.

The Urban Council operates two funeral depots, one in Hong Kong and one in Kowloon, to provide free services for the disposal of the dead. Adequate funeral facilities are available for public use at the two funeral parlours run by the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals. The policy of both the council and the government is to encourage cremation instead of burial. During 1983, 60 per cent of the dead were cremated.

A new crematorium at Sha Tin is scheduled to be completed in mid-1984. Together with the existing crematoria at Cape Collinson, Diamond Hill, Kwai Chung and Wo Hop Shek, it will provide an even distribution of cremation facilities throughout the territory.