Minutes of the Thirteenth Meeting ofCentral and Western District Council

Date : 8 March 2018 (Thursday)Time : 2:30 pmVenue : Conference Room

14/F, Harbour Building 38 Pier Road, Central, Hong Kong

Present:

ChairmanMr YIP Wing-shing, BBS, MH, JP (2:32 pm – 5:51 pm)

Vice-chairmanMr CHAN Hok-fung, MH, JP*

MembersMr CHAN Chit-kwai, Stephen, BBS, JP*Mr CHAN Choi-hi, MH*Ms CHENG Lai-king (2:40 pm – end of the meeting)Mr CHEUNG Kwok-kwan, JP (3:38 pm – end of the meeting)Mr HUI Chi-fung (2:36 pm – 5:13 pm)Mr KAM Nai-wai, MH*Mr LEE Chi-hang, Sidney, MH (2:32 pm – 3:09 pm)Miss LO Yee-hang, MH*Ms NG Hoi-yan, Bonnie*Mr NG Siu-hong*Mr YEUNG Hoi-wing*Mr YEUNG Hok-ming*Mr YOUNG Chit-on, Jeremy (2:32 pm – 5:32 pm)

Remarks:   * Members who attended the whole meeting( ) Time of attendance of the Member

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Item 5 (i) Mr Wilfred AU Director (Planning and Design), Urban Renewal AuthorityMr Christopher WONG General Manager (Planning and Design), Urban Renewal

AuthorityMs Katty LAW Convenor, Central & Western Concern Group

Item 5 (i i ) Mr LEE Hong-nin, Robin Chief Assistant Secretary (Works) 2, Development BureauMs LEE Hoi-lun, Leonie Assistant Secretary (Heritage Conservation) 3, Development

BureauMr CHU Ho, Larry Assistant Secretary (Harbour) 1, Development BureauMs Katty LAW Convenor, Central & Western Concern Group

Item 6Mrs WONG HO Wing-sze,

Susanne, JPDistrict Officer (Central and Western)

Item 7 Mrs WONG HO Wing-sze,

Susanne, JPDistrict Officer (Central and Western)

Ms WONG Suet-yi, Penny Assistant District Officer (Central and Western)Miss LEE Tsz-wai, Suki Executive Assistant (District-led Actions Scheme), Central

and Western District Office

Item 8 Mr LEE Tze-wah District Environmental Hygiene Superintendent

(Central/Western), Food and Environmental Hygiene Department

Mr CHEUNG Ka-shing Senior Wetland and Fauna Conservation Officer, Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department

Miss CHAN Po-lam Wetland and Fauna Conservation Officer (Special Duties), Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department

Item 9 Mr LAM Ding-fung District Social Welfare Officer (Central Western, Southern &

Islands), Social Welfare DepartmentMs TONG Lai-fong, Emilie Chief School Development Officer (Central, Western and

Southern), Education Bureau

Item 10

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Mr LAM Kwok-wai, Simon Principal Management Services Officer (Efficiency Unit) 3, Chief Secretary for Administration's Office

Ms KWOK Kam-fung, Amy Chief Executive Officer (Projects), Chief Secretary for Administration's Office

Mr LAU Wai-leung Senior Engineer/Hong Kong (2) (Acting), Water Supplies Department

Mr SO Chi-him Engineer/Hong Kong (Distribution 2), Water Supplies Department

In Attendance:

Mr LAU Mei-yam, Matthew District Commander (Central District) (Acting), Hong Kong Police Force

Mr LEUNG Yin-man Police Community Relation Officer (Central District), Hong Kong Police Force

Mr HO Kwok-fai, Godfrey Senior Engineer/6 (S), Civil Engineering and Development Department

Mr LEE Tze-wah District Environmental Hygiene Superintendent (Central/Western), Food and Environmental Hygiene Department

Mr CHAIONG David, Stanley Chief Leisure Manager (Hong Kong West), Leisure and Cultural Services Department

Mr LEUNG Kwok-man, Lautrec Senior Transport Officer/Central and Western, Transport Department

Mrs WONG HO Wing-sze, Susanne, JP

District Officer (Central and Western)

Ms WONG Suet-yi, Penny Assistant District Officer (Central and Western)Mr MOK Chi-kin, Jiv Senior Executive Officer (District Management), Central and

Western District OfficeMs BOOK King-shun, Emma Executive Officer I (District Council), Central and Western

District Office

SecretaryMs YEUNG Wing-shan, Grace Senior Executive Officer (District Council), Central and

Western District Office

Opening Remarks

The Chairman welcomed all to the thirteenth meeting of the Central and Western

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District Council (C&WDC).

2. The Chairman said that as there were quite a number of items on the agenda for consideration at the meeting, it was proposed that the time for each speaking by a Member be limited to three minutes for effective discussion. Second round follow-up questions and comments by Members would depend on the availability of time. He sought Members’ co-operation in this regard, and reminded Members to declare interests as necessary and appropriate.

Item 1: Adoption of the Agenda(2:32 pm – 2:33 pm)

3. The Chairman said that as Members were highly concerned about the district-related initiatives put forward in the 2018-19 Budget delivered by the Financial Secretary on 28 February 2018, the C&WDC had therefore invited the District Officer to brief Members on the subject on behalf of the Home Affairs Department. The subject would be addressed under agenda item 6. In addition, the Chairman said that as the government representatives who would be joining the discussion on the item “Wild pigs intruding into urban areas” had other commitments, the discussion would be advanced to agenda item 8 to facilitate their attendance. There being no comment from Members, the Chairman declared the adoption of the agenda.

Item 2: Confirmation of the Minutes of the Twelfth C&WDC Meeting held on 4 January 2018

(2:33 pm – 2:34 pm)

4. T he Chairman said that the Secretariat had sent the draft minutes of the twelfth C&WDC meeting to Members on 1 March 2018 by e-mail, and had sent the amendment proposals from Members for perusal by e-mail together with the fourth batch of papers. Members had no comment on the draft of the amended minutes and the Chairman declared that the minutes were confirmed.

Item 3: Action Checklist on Matters Arising from the Twelfth C&WDC Meeting(C&W DC Paper No. 1/2018)

(2:34 pm – 2:35 pm)

5. T he Chairman asked Members to refer to the checklist for the progress of follow-up

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of different items.

Item 4: Chairman’s Report(2:35 pm)

6. T he Chairman said that the C&WDC spring dinner for work exchange would be held in the evening of 22 March 2018. The Secretariat had sent letters to Members inviting them to attend.

Standing Items

Item 5(i): Report on the Projects under the Urban Renewal Authority in the Central & Western District

(C&W DC Paper No. 19/2018)(2:35 pm – 3:29 pm)

7. The Chairman welcomed representatives of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) and the Central & Western Concern Group (CWCG) to the meeting. He then invited representatives of the URA to present the paper.

8. Mr Wilfred AU , Director (Planning and Design) of the URA, brief Members on the URA’s projects in the Central and Western District. For the H18 project, he said that works on all three sites had commenced. Site formation work was currently being carried out within Site A. The project would feature a multi-purpose hall which could accommodate 450 people. Project works was expected to be completed by 2021/22. The developer was setting up the project team for Site C. Gutzlaff Street had been permanently closed and would become part of the public open space upon project completion. Site C was expected to be completed by 2022/23. The public open space in all three sites would be interconnected upon project completion. The remaining works within Site B would be tentatively completed in the third quarter of 2018, to be followed by site inspection by government departments. The public open space was expected to be open in the first quarter of 2019. The public open space and shopping centre within Site B could be accessed from streets on either side (Peel Street and Graham Street). Hoardings in between the work site and the Market Block within Site B would be dismantled progressively for completion of the remaining works of public open space. With the aid of PowerPoint presentation, Mr AU presented the images of the latest layout plan of the public open space upon completion of Site B. Interface between the public open space and Peel Street was expected to be completed as scheduled for ease of access. Mr AU said that the URA had notified the stakeholders that the latest rental would only be known

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upon project completion in the first quarter of 2019. The current rental concessions would continue to apply until completion of the public space. The commercial portion within Site B having an area of 15 000 feet was expected to feature a storey of commercial floor space of approximately 5 500 feet facing Peel Street. It was primarily for lease to shops with unique local character including shops affected by the development project, such as the cloth traders in the Western Market or dried seafood shops operating in the Sung Hing Lane/Kwai Heung Street redevelopment project. The remaining some 9 500 feet was primarily for lease to shops having previous ties with the district and with unique local character. He said that the URA would try contact shops like CHAN YEE JAI, Kowloon Soy Company, Lung Kee Restaurant and Chung Kee Congee, etc. to see if they would like to return and operate there. Site B was still under construction and expected to obtain the occupation permit in August 2018. He expected that the URA would, starting from June/July 2018, introduce the rental arrangements of the shops in the H18 project, including internal partitions, floor area and rent, etc., to different shop operators (including those in the Western Market and Sung Hing Lane) and discuss the same with the latter.

9. For the H19 project, Mr Wilfred AU of the URA said he would first provide clarification in response to the comments that the URA had demolished the buildings within the Staunton Street/Wing Lee Street project site without consultation with the C&WDC. He reiterated that the URA had not commenced any demolition works for the four buildings at Nos. 4 to 10 Wa In Fong West. Buildings that had been demolished were No. 16 Wa In Fong West (demolished in July 2013) and Nos. 8 to 10 Shing Wong Street (demolished in August 2016). Demolition of the two blocks was in response to the views expressed at the C&WDC meetings in 2015-16 suggesting that for public safety, consideration might be given to demolishing buildings that had been wholly acquired within the project area. As for the buildings at Nos. 4 to 10 Wa In Fong West, to ensure public safety, the URA had employed consultants to conduct structural safety assessment for the buildings. Appropriate arrangements would be made after the detailed information became available. In addition, he presented photos of the indoor areas of the buildings at Nos. 4 to 10 Wa In Fong West, showing that concrete spallings were still found in many locations. He supplemented that the URA had on the one hand appointed a consultant. In the event that the deterioration of these buildings exacerbated to a state that affected the structure and posed danger to public safety, the URA had to take precautionary measures before the demolition work was carried out. On the other hand, assessment could be made on the structural stability and serviceability of the units to see whether the buildings were habitable. The URA was not able to update the Council on the direction and progress of the project at the meeting as it had to have a good grasp of the actual situation and conduct a feasibility study before doing so. He said that apart from the condition of the buildings, it also depended on whether a change of the original planning intention of the project area (i.e. a comprehensive development area) was necessary. And apart from the URA, these decisions also involved the participation of other government

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departments. He hoped that a more concrete direction could be mapped out by mid-2018 for consultation with the C&WDC.

10. For the Sung Hing Lane/Kwai Heung Street redevelopment project, Mr Wilfred AU of the URA said that the URA submitted the project information and public opinions received, including the unwithdrawn objections, to the Secretary for Development for consideration on 22 December 2017, and expected to obtain the authorisation of the Secretary for Development to proceed with the project by mid-2018. Upon authorisation of the project and if no appeal was received in the following 30 days, the URA would issue acquisition offer to property owners. If appeal was received, the project could only proceed after the appeal procedure was completed with the redevelopment decision being upheld. Regarding the preliminary design concept of the project, Mr AU said that in addition to improving the walking environment and widening the entrance, it would enhance the accessibility of the Sung Hing Lane Children's Playground, provide more open space to connect with the Sung Hing Lane Children's Playground, and provide visual openness to the existing and future open space. After the Secretary for Development authorised the URA to proceed with the project, the URA would contact dried seafood shops with unique local character within the project area to find out whether they would like to continue their operation in situ after project completion.

11. Regarding the Central Market Revitalisation Project, Mr Wilfred AU of the URA said that the demolition works for the public toilet on Queen’s Road Central was ongoing. Erection of mesh fence and hoarding works around the building had been completed to prevent falling objects. Marquee displaying design of the building upon completion would be hung up on both sides of the block during the construction stage. On the other hand, he said that the URA would display a number of panels in the 24-hour public passageway on the 2/F around April 2018 to introduce, in a fun-filled approach, the history of the area around Central Market (such as evolution of the shoreline, Western “Red Light District”, etc.), provided by Mr CHENG Po-hung, Dr TING Sun-pao and Dr LO Shuk-ying to promote public understanding of the district’s history. In addition, he said that the URA was planning the improvement to the existing toilet facilities on Des Voeux Road Central to address the problems of odour and slippery floor. The proposals regarding the street widening works at Queen Victoria Street and relocation of the carpark space of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) had been submitted to the relevant government departments for vetting in March 2018.

12. As regards the nuisances caused by congregation of feral pigeons at the Central Market and its surrounding area, Mr Wilfred AU of the URA said that the URA had a meeting with the Central and Western District Office (C&WDO), the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD), the FEHD, the Highways Department (HyD), the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) and the Transport Department (TD)

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on 26 February 2018 to jointly explore measures to address the problem. He said that the URA would install spikes on top of the hoardings, and had assisted in cleansing part of the footbridge cover and staircases of the HyD linking to the Central Market. Posters were also displayed inside the Central Market building and on hoardings in end February 2018 reminding the public not to feed pigeons. He hoped that these could help reduce the congregation of pigeons in Queen Victoria Street, Jubilee Street and Queen’s Road Central in the short run.

13. Regarding H6 CONET, Mr Wilfred AU of the URA said that a site visit was arranged on 13 February 2018 for Members. Space was available within H6 CONET for hire by groups for organising community activities. Examples were the “Tie•Journey” exhibition held between 24 February and 9 March 2018 for women’s groups, an activity named “Beautification in Central and Mid-levels with community involvement” jointly organised by the C&WDC and the C&WDO on 3 March 2018, and the 2017-18 “The Portfolios 14” Exhibition organised by the Hong Kong Professional Photographers Network (HKPPN) between 21 March and 29 April 2018. He said that the URA was exploring the feasibility of introducing street performance and hoped to gain support from the Council. He pointed out that not every district was suitable for promotion of street performance culture. The URA wished to, on the premise of not causing too much nuisance to the public, consider bringing in appropriate street performances, and would then plan to approach the C&WDO and other groups. He said that an intelligent video analytics system was used to collect statistics of pedestrian traffic of H6 CONET. Findings showed that the most frequently used entrances/exits were the entrance hall and those at Gilman's Bazaar, Tung Man Street and Tit Hong Lane. Such statistics were useful to the URA in understanding and arranging activities. According to the latest statistics, H6 CONET currently had a daily pedestrian flow of 5 000 on weekdays. Regarding the street beautification works adjacent to H6 CONET, it was expected to commence in mid-2018 in which restoration works to slab-paved pavements would be carried out in seven streets in phases. He said that the URA would also collaborate with the FEHD to provide subsidy to and enhance the hawker pitches within the street beautification works area. It also hoped that a revamp of the hawker pitches would highlight the history of the streets. He also explained about the introduction of a “place making” concept in the area adjacent to H6 CONET. He said the URA was considering to propose rehabilitation and beautification schemes for some 30 buildings near H6 CONET and hoped to gain support from the Council. He pointed out that among which some buildings had unauthorised canopies on their external walls. It was hoped that these unauthorised building works could be dealt with through minor works, and colours that were compatible with the buildings concerned could be used to improve the overall environment of the area. In addition, he said that the URA would also explore the feasibility of making use of the floor and walls of those buildings (such as plant room) for mural paintings/art creation, such that walls of the buildings could also showcase art. Mr AU hoped that the whole concept plan, i.e. from restoration

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works to slab-paved pavements to murals painted on walls, could exhibit the 4R concept (Redevelopment, Rehabilitation, pReservation, Revitalisation) on the H6 CONET as a whole.

14. For the Western Market, Mr Wilfred AU of the URA said that the URA expected to provide details of available rental shops at the H18 Site B to the cloth traders and address their rental needs by mid-2018. If the cloth traders would like to relocate to H18 to continue their business operation, even though their tenancy agreements at the Western Market would expire in February 2019, the URA would discuss with the DEVB to see if the operation period in the Western Market could be extended to facilitate a seamless relocation.

15. The Chairman invited Ms Katty LAW, Convenor of the CWCG, to speak. Ms LAW said that for the H19 project, regarding the URA’s response to media enquiries about the H19 project (or the “30 Houses”), the URA at the time indicated that it would study a preservation option where repair works would be carried out for the units acquired for the provision of social housing. She said that according to the relevant paper, in addition to Nos. 60 to 62 Staunton Street, the study would also cover Nos. 88 to 90 Staunton Street and Nos. 4 to 10 Wa In Fong West. She enquired whether the URA could provide findings of the study on conversion of these units into social housing. She welcomed the URA’s initiative to repair those flats for social housing purpose, but reckoned that a proper preservation study must be conducted first to avoid damage to monuments with architectural characteristics of tenement building in the course of maintenance or demolition works. Regarding the building demolition plan, Ms LAW said that although the URA clarified that it was now studying the buildings’ structure instead of planning for their demolition, she hoped the URA could undertake not to carry out any building demolition works before a conclusion was reached on the preservation proposal put forward by the CWCG. She also pointed out that it was an opportune time for the Council and the public to jointly discuss options for preserving the “30 Houses”. Regarding the H18 project, Ms LAW expressed concern on the project status. She said that although the works at Site B was near completion and noting that the access road linking Site A and Site C would be open in future, the access road was very narrow and she reckoned that this would cause inconvenience to people heading to the nearby stalls for shopping. She hoped that the URA could provide information on the width of the access road and widen the road as far as possible.

16. The Chairman invited views from Members.

(a) Mr NG Siu-hong said that for the H19 project, he earlier saw a site personnel holding a plan with the words “Building will be demolished” on it. He reckoned that the URA had intention to demolish the buildings and hoped the URA could give an explanation. He also said that he had expressed such view and concern to the URA afterwards, but the URA was slow in responding and he still had not

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received a reply after several days. He asked why the URA needed so much time to respond to enquiry, and was concerned whether the URA would conceal and not make public certain information. Mr NG continued that the URA had shelved the H19 project for a long time since 2017. He asked if the URA had conducted study for the H19 project, and hoped the URA could report on the progress and explain whether it had consulted the public. He was worried that the URA would demolish some buildings with historical value or local character without full consultation. He also hoped that the URA could report to the Council as soon as possible the future direction and design concept of the project, so that the Council could have sufficient time to gauge views from various parties. Mr NG said that the Democratic Party’s stance on this project was that it hoped the H19 project to be kept at status quo, opposed construction of screen-effect buildings, opposed destruction of monuments, and opposed developments that would generate additional pressure on local traffic. He pointed out that these were the intentions that had been endorsed by the Council. Regarding the Central Market Revitalisation Project, Mr NG noted that the URA would use marquee to show the original appearance of the Central Market. He said that as seen in the presentation, Bauhaus style would be adopted in putting up the marquee on the exterior of the Central Market building facing Des Voeux Road Central. Such design was different from the modern design with glass curtain wall as stated in the URA’s earlier submission to the Council. He asked whether the URA had revised the design in light of the views of the Council, or whether marquee was used to cover the glass curtain wall only on a temporary basis. Mr NG also expressed concern on illegal feeding of pigeons, and enquired when the URA would carry out regular/routine cleansing of roofs and planters. On showcase of history, Mr NG enquired whether the URA would provide information on “Hung Mo Kew” and other information related to the development of Central Market in the exhibition. He hoped the URA could present a fuller picture of the past. Regarding the works for Wing Woo Grocery Shop in the Graham Street Market, Mr NG asked when the URA would submit a paper to give an account on the details of project development, design and progress.

(b) Mr HUI Chi-fung expressed views on the H18 project. He said that during the construction of Site C, many residents had complained to him that there was no toilet available for use nearby. He enquired how the URA would arrange toilet facilities near Site C for public use. Besides, he pointed out that the closure of Staveley Street and Gutzlaff Street had affected the shops nearby. He noted that under the existing mechanism, shop operators could make claims for compensation against the Secretary for Transport and Housing. He hoped that the URA could assist shop operators affected, such as by providing them with professional

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services and coordination arrangements, etc. For the H19 project, Mr HUI hoped that the URA would undertake to inform the C&WDC before proceeding with any building demolition works, including site investigation works. He also hoped that the URA would not adopt the approach of demolition immediately upon acquisition in handling the existing tenement buildings within the H19 project area. Furthermore, he was concerned about the development progress of the URA's H19 project and hoped that the URA could provide an updated work schedule. Regarding the Central Market project, Mr HUI welcomed the raising by the URA of the hygiene issue in relation to feral pigeons in the Central Market. He hoped that the URA could put in effort to address the problem. In addition, he noted that the URA was engaging a consultant to work out the detailed study on operational arrangement for the Central Market. He hoped that the URA could report the details of the study to the C&WDC or invite the consultant to attend C&WDC meeting to explain in detail. Regarding H6 CONET, Mr HUI supported the addition of street performance to enhance the joyous atmosphere. He also acknowledged the management mode adopted by the URA for H6 CONET, reckoning that H6 CONET had gained public support as it was open for public enjoyment without being excessively managed.

(c) Mr YEUNG Hok-ming was concerned about feral pigeon nuisance in the Central Market and enquired about the URA’s approach in addressing the issue. He hoped that the URA would dispose of the feral pigeons properly, rather than driving them away to other areas. As regards the Sung Hing Lane/Kwai Heung Street redevelopment project, Mr YEUNG welcomed the URA’s idea of reserving the ground floor shops for former shop operators, such as dried seafood shops, to continue their operation, remarking that dried seafood shops had become a traditional trade and local feature of the area. He also hoped that in addition to the existing shop operators, the URA would consider setting aside space for the dried seafood merchants’ association to continue its operation in situ for provision of services to the dried seafood trade.

(d) Mr LEE Chi-hang pointed out that in the URA’s submission (C&W DC Paper No. 19/2018), there was no mentioning of the lot-drawing on 31 January 2018 under the part on the Sung Hing Lane/Kwai Heung Street redevelopment project. He said that many affected residents were still not aware of the said lot-drawing, and suggested the URA to supplement relevant information to increase the transparency of the project. Besides, Mr LEE hoped that the URA would only proceed with the valuation work upon approval given by the DEVB for the project and confirmation that no objection was received, so as to avoid premature valuation that did not truly reflect the property market situation. In addition, Mr

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LEE stressed his hope that space could be set aside under the project for community purpose, particularly to provide meeting place for hire by owners' corporations.

(e) Ms CHENG Lai-king expressed views on the H19 project. She hoped that the URA could follow the model of Singapore's Chinatown and renovate the tenement buildings cluster for public visitation in order to preserve and showcase the landscapes of old Central. Regarding the social housing scheme, Ms CHENG asked if the scheme could only proceed upon approval by the Buildings Department (BD) and confirmation of safety of the buildings. She also enquired whether this meant that the existing old buildings within the H19 project area would not be demolished for the time being. She hoped that the joyous and vibrant ambience of Staunton Street could be retained. In addition, Ms CHENG enquired about information on spikes and said that she did not wish to see any harm done to feral pigeons.

(f) Mr CHAN Choi-hi opined that while street beautification works was important, building structural safety must not be neglected. Regarding feral pigeon nuisance, he hoped the URA would expand the scope of area for installing spikes. However, he also agreed that no harm should be done to feral pigeons. He hoped that alternative methods would be used if spikes would cause harm to feral pigeons. Besides, in the long run, apart from routine cleansing of the footbridge cover, Mr CHAN hoped the URA would consider using nanotechnology to expedite completion of cleansing work. For the Sung Hing Lane/Kwai Heung Street redevelopment project, Mr CHAN hoped that the URA could set aside space for community facilities. In addition, remarking that sale of salted fish was a special trade in the redevelopment area, he hoped the URA could consider establishing a museum or otherwise to record the history of the salted fish industry.

(g) The Vice-chairman said that for the Central Market project, after hoarding was erected around the Central Market building by the URA, the condition of pedestrian crossing had deteriorated as the hoarding occupied certain space. He hoped the URA could discuss with the TD on improving the crossing facilities. In addition, he pointed out that the public toilet in the Central Market had serious odour problem and hoped the URA could help divert users to the toilet facilities in H6 CONET. Regarding the H19 project, the Vice-chairman said that the URA had only acquired about 50% of the property interests at present and considered it unlikely that the URA would be able to acquire the remaining property interests. He hoped that the URA would examine the feasibility of continuing the H19 project. He also suggested the C&WDC to write to the Planning Department

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(PlanD), urging it to review afresh whether the H19 redevelopment project should continue and consider whether to withdraw the project, so as to allow complete preservation of the distinctive architectural complex by the current property owners. The Vice-chairman continued that the hygienic conditions of the buildings within the H19 project area were highly substandard. He suggested to review and plan afresh as soon as possible to avoid prolonged delay.

(h) The Chairman was concerned about the future development of the “30 Houses” and hoped to learn more about the details of it. In addition, with regard to H6 CONET, the Chairman supported improvement of the surrounding environment and building arrangement, such as standardising the colour of the canopies, saying that it could add a new twist. In addition, the Chairman welcomed the URA’s initiative to make available the facilities for public use and considered that it was well-received by the public. He hoped that the URA could keep the space open and provide information for public viewing, including an introduction to changes in the history and environment of the surrounding area and present day circumstances, so as to let the public know about the improvement of people's livelihood.

17. Mr Wilfred AU of the URA answered Members’ questions. With regard to the H19 project, Mr AU pointed out that at the time when the Town Planning Board (TPB) discussed the excision of Site A (Wing Lee Street) from the “URA Staunton Street/Wing Lee Street Development Scheme” in 2012, the PlanD and the Antiquities and Monuments Office (AMO) had expressed views on Site B and Site C at the TPB meeting on 17 January 2012. At the time, the PlanD commented that the settings in Sites B and C did not have similar character as that in Site A, whereas the AMO indicated that the buildings therein had no particular historic value. Mr AU stressed that the URA must act in accordance with the Ordinance and planning intention, and that the then planning intention did not say much about preservation. Mr AU said that the URA had not forcibly implemented the H19 project, just that the development of the project involved the participation of and consideration by multiple government departments. Since Sites B and C remained a comprehensive development area, the URA had the responsibility to continue taking forward the project. Mr AU said he noted the C&WDC’s views and understood that the Council was against the high development parameters. In addition, Mr AU continued that if it required some time to finalise the development direction of the project, and provided that the property interests acquired by the URA, including Nos. 88 to 90 Staunton Street and Nos. 4 to 10 Wa In Fong West, were confirmed structurally safe and habitable, the URA did not rule out handing over the units therein to the Government during the transition period for development into community housing to help the local community. Mr AU also said that the URA had regularly attended C&WDC meetings to report progress and would inform the C&WDC before demolition of

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buildings. He reiterated that submission of plans was required prior to any demolition works. Moreover, as the buildings were connected, structural safety issue would also need to be considered. Therefore, the URA must first appoint consultant to handle the preparation, though it did not mean that immediate demolition of the buildings concerned was necessary. As to whether there was a need to conserve the project area, Mr AU said that it should be left to the government departments concerned to consider.

18. Regarding the H18 project, Mr Wilfred AU said that more notices would be displayed on the hoardings of the sites to divert people to use the Mee Lun Street Public Toilet and the toilet facilities in H6 CONET for diversion purpose.

19. Regarding the Central Market project, Mr Wilfred AU of the URA said that the URA had committed that there would be an obvious distinction between old and new after revitalisation. He reckoned that if all the buildings were retained or imitated the original appearance, it would fail the expectation of the public on the project. Mr AU emphasised that the façade of the Central Market facing Des Voeux Road Central was demolished in 1989. The existing façade was rebuilt later and was thus not the original one that had a long history. Mr AU continued that the history of “Hung Mo Kew” was a continuation of the Western “Red Light District” and conferred historic and commemorative value, and thus relevant information would be displayed at the 24-hour public passageway in the Central Market. He emphasised that the URA did not selectively display history, it only displayed history of different themes in stages. Regarding the details of the study on operation mode by consultant, Mr AU said that the consultant was currently relaying public views collected earlier on operation mode to different stakeholders, including non-profit making organisations, shop operators and cultural organisations in order to gauge their views on meeting the needs of the public. He said that preliminary report, once available, would be presented to C&WDC’s meeting. Mr AU continued that the Central Market Revitalisation Project was expected to be completed around 2022 and reckoned that it was yet to proceed to the stage of identifying operators. Regarding the issue of feral pigeons, Mr AU said that the URA’s span of management was confined to the interior of the market building. The footbridge, albeit designated as part of the revitalisation project area, was managed by the HyD and the EMSD. As such, the URA could only conduct a one-off cleansing operation for the footbridge. As for the parts of the building managed by the URA, spikes or screen had been installed as far as possible. Regarding the number of feral pigeons, the URA would coordinate with the FEHD in a bid to reducing feral pigeon-feeding activity. Regarding spike materials, Mr AU said that the materials used had been referenced from the AFCD and believed it would not cause harm to the pigeons. Mr AU also said, in response to the condition of pedestrian crossing after hoarding was erected around the Central Market, that he would discuss with the HyD and the BD about improvement measures. With regard to diversion of toilet users, Mr AU said that where necessary, directional signs would be

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installed to divert people to other nearby toilets.

20. Regarding the Sung Hing Lane/Kwai Heung Street redevelopment project, Mr Wilfred AU of the URA reiterated that the URA had planned to set aside shop space of similar size upon project completion for the return of former dried seafood shops. In case the relevant shop operators were not interested in returning and operating at the project site and resulted in surplus shop space, the URA would consider leasing the remaining shop space to the dried seafood merchants’ association, which could also make use of the shop space to introduce the history of the dried seafood industry to the public, thereby making full use of the shop space. Regarding valuations in relation to property acquisition, Mr AU remarked that seven surveyor firms had been appointed earlier through open lot-drawing to conduct valuations. After the Secretary for Development authorised the URA to proceed with the project, the surveyor firms would assess the value of the notional seven-year-old replacement flat (i.e. Home Purchase Allowance) in order to closely meet market needs.

21. As regards H6 CONET, Mr Wilfred AU of the URA noted Members’ support for the addition of street performance, adding that the C&WDC could refer organisations that promoted street performance for cooperation with the URA. Regarding alleviating the potential problems in private buildings near the adjacent streets, he cited an example saying that if there was potential risk of debonding of glass blocks or mosaic tiles, etc. from external walls that posed danger, the URA was willing to coordinate with the owners to jointly make improvements.

22. Mr NG Siu-hong said the URA had in its response on the development direction of the H19 project mentioned that the issue involved the consideration and decision by multiple government departments. Mr NG wished to know which government departments were being referred to, such that the C&WDC could relay and express views. In addition, Mr NG said that he had a vision for the Central Market, that is, a public space easily accessible by residents and without high-end consumption, and marketing not targetting only tourists but nearby residents would be benefitted too. Lastly, Mr NG asked if negative air pressure could be maintained in the Central Market Public Toilet to help reduce odour.

23. In response to the enquiry by Mr NG, Mr Wilfred AU of the URA said that for the H19 project, the AMO would be responsible for preservation issues, while the PlanD and the TPB would be responsible for planning intention. Mr AU also indicated that Mr NG’s vision for the Central Market was in line with the operational standards received by the URA. The URA would make effort to collect more information. Regarding the odour problem in toilet, the URA had planned to place large dehumidifiers and ionic air purifiers inside the toilet to improve air quality.

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24. The Vice-chairman asked if Members supported the earlier suggestion of writing to the PlanD. No Member had indicated objection. In conclusion, the Chairman said that the C&WDC would write to the PlanD, hoping that the department would examine the feasibility of continuing the H19 project; and the URA should consider withdrawing the H19 redevelopment project if it failed to complete acquisition of property titles.

25. The Chairman closed the discussion on this item.

Item 5(ii): Conserving Central (C&W DC Paper No. 20/2018)

(3:29 pm – 4:07 pm)

26. The Chairman welcomed representatives of the DEVB to the meeting and said that the DEVB had submitted a paper on the item. He then invited the representatives of the DEVB to present the paper.

27. Mr LEE Hong-nin , Chief Assistant Secretary (Works) 2 of the DEVB, gave a progress update on some projects under “Conserving Central”:

(a) Central Police Station (CPS) Compound: The project works were proceeding in full steam. The temporary works platform for the construction of the deck of the footbridge would be removed in April 2018. The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC)’s contractor had implemented a series of measures to mitigate the impacts arising from the works on neighbouring residents, businesses, and road users. Construction of the footbridge was scheduled for completion in the first half of 2018. It was understood that the HKJC targetted to open parts of the CPS Compound by mid-2018 upon completion of works and approvals by government departments. It was now actively working on the operations and programming arrangements.

(b) Former Police Married Quarters on Hollywood Road: The number of visitors to the “PMQ” since its opening in April 2014 till the end of January 2018 was over 12.39 million.

(c) Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui (HKSKH)’s Central Compound: The HKSKH recently completed the preliminary design for the pick-up/drop-off and parking area for vehicles within the hospital. Also, in response to the letter from the C&WDC to the DEVB dated 13 February 2018 expressing the hope for the HKSKH to provide the indicative plans, such plans were enclosed with the paper

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and members’ views were welcome.

(d) Former French Mission Building: The renovation works had commenced in January 2018.

(e) Former Central Government Offices (CGO): The works were reaching the final stage and the target completion date was end 2018.

28. As regards the New Central Harbourfront project, Mr CHU Ho, Assistant Secretary (Harbour) 1 of the DEVB, said that he had nothing to add as the conditions of Sites 1 and 2 were similar to that as reported at the previous meeting.

29. The Chairman invited Ms Katty LAW, Convenor of the CWCG, to speak. Ms LAW remarked that while the CWCG had all along been supporting the “Conserving Central” initiative, the HKSKH’s plan of building a 25-storey hospital with basement car park on Bishop Hill was worrying. She said that according to the latest indicative plans, bulk excavation works would be carried out for the proposed hospital. She was concerned that such large-scale works would affect the structure of the surrounding historic buildings, particularly the Bishop’s House, which was the second oldest Western-style architecture in Hong Kong and a Grade 1 historic building. The CWCG was worried that incidents similar to the partial collapse of Block 4 of the CPS Compound would happen again. Ms LAW also indicated that the said large-scale development violated the national and international codes for heritage conservation and would undermine the chance of successful application to UNESCO for putting Central and Sheung Wan old towns on the List of World Cultural Heritage. She said that conservation of an old town required strict conservation planning, and UNESCO would not accept the construction of large structures in old towns. Ms LAW supplemented that the Government had previously planned to demolish the West Wing of the former CGO for construction of a 30-storey commercial building, at the time UNESCO had issued a Heritage Alert on the West Wing. She pointed out that this was the first Heritage Alert targetting Hong Kong and even the whole of China. She did not wish the same to happen to Government Hill or Bishop Hill. She believed that the exercise of prudence and avoidance of large structures of this type were essential for the proper handling of the projects under “Conserving Central". In addition, Ms LAW said she received information recently that City Hall would be closed for three years starting 2021 for maintenance and expansion works. Since City Hall was a Grade 1 historic building and an elegant modernist building of the 60s, as well as an important public facility, the CWCG was concerned that problems would arise if the relevant project was carried out without any consultation or conservation study. She suggested that the Administration should conduct a comprehensive public consultation on the maintenance and expansion project of City Hall and hire a conservation consultant to conduct detailed heritage studies in order to formulate a complete conservation management plan. Ms LAW opined that

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if City Hall needed more space for expansion, the General Post Office (GPO) in Central across the street, which was a 70s modernist building, could provide the necessary space to meet such needs. She suggested the Government to excise Site 3 where the GPO and the adjoining car park were situated from the boundary of land sale area, and allocate the GPO and the adjourning public car park as space for expansion of City Hall. Lastly, Ms LAW said some members of the public had relayed to her that the annual Hong Kong Dragon Boat Carnival would be held at the Central Harbourfront this June. However, in the past two years, a waterfront area of some 250-metre long was fenced off by the People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison (the Garrison) for use as a dock, making it hard for many to have a clear view of the dragon boat races. Some members of the public therefore wrote to the CWCG and the Central Habourfront Concern Group, hoping that the Government, the organisers and the C&WDC would help by requesting the Garrison to open the promenade during the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Carnival for the public to watch the dragon boat races. She also pointed out that when no ships were at berth, the area should be a public space for public enjoyment. Ms LAW took this opportunity to alert the C&WDC that currently many harbourfront sites were fenced off, thus rendering the public unable to use them.

30. The Chairman invited views from Members. The main points of their comments were as follows:

(a) Mr NG Siu-hong suggested to arrange a visit for C&WDC members to the footbridge connecting the CPS Compound for an understanding of the details of the relevant road situation, materials used, water drainage design, signboard placement and pedestrian circulation, etc. to facilitae follow-up by the Working Group on Mid-levels Escalators in the Central & Western District. Besides, he would like to know about the recovery option for Block 4 and hoped the final option would be determined by independent professionals. Regarding the HKSKH’s Central Compound, Mr NG hoped that the HKSKH could explain the details of its plan and pay attention to the impact of the plan on traffic, environment, air ventilation and historical and cultural conservation. In addition, Mr NG objected to the demolition of the GPO building and considered that the building itself together with City Hall formed a modernist architectural complex, thereby making the entire area worthy of conservation. He also enquired how the relevant planning was determined and hoped that consultation work could be stepped up. As regards the military dock, Mr NG said he had raised in 2014 whether the relevant facility could be open. He considered the progress not satisfactory and would like to know about the current situation. He continued that he did not wish that every year when the dragon boat carnival was held, the public was unable to watch the races due to obstruction of sight.

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(b) Mr HUI Chi-fung enquired that as the new Central Harbourfront was a project under the “Conserving Central” initiative, why the DEVB did not mention anything about the expansion of City Hall in its progress update, nor did it provide updates on the relocation of the High Court to the new Central Harbourfront. He hoped the DEVB could supplement on that.

(c) Mr CHAN Choi-hi hoped the DEVB would provide an update on the expansion of City Hall at the next meeting. He also suggested the introduction of community participation to the CPS Compound project and setting up of a focus group to contact the public in operation, traffic, and activities upon opening in order to extend its reach. Besides, Mr CHAN hoped the HKSKH would conduct a more comprehensive traffic assessment in response to the C&WDC’s concern for its Central Compound project. In addition, he enquired whether the Administration would carry out consultation for Sites 1 and 2 of the new Central Harbourfront and of the relevant details. He also hoped that the Administration would provide detailed information on the events to be held at the new Central Habourfront in the next half year.

(d) Mr CHAN Chit-kwai said that except when in use by the Garrison, the military dock site at the new Central Harbourfront was generally open to the public. Hence, there was no such thing as the public could not use the area and he hoped the DEVB could clarify on this. In addition, Mr CHAN reckoned that the CPS Compound would bring in heavy pedestrian flow upon its commissioning and was expected to have significant impact on the traffic of Hollywood Road in the first month. He thus hoped the TD could explain to the C&WDC about the relevant traffic arrangements. Regarding the HKSKH’s Central Compound project, Mr CHAN enquired about the number of parking spaces planned to be provided to hospital users in addition to the pick-up/drop-off area for ambulance and other vehicles on the ground floor as shown on the indicative maps, as well as the specific entry and exit directions of vehicles and traffic arrangements.

(e) Mr YEUNG Hoi-wing said he could view the races clearly when attending the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Carnival last year. He learned that the military dock site at the location concerned was under judicial review proceeding and enquired about the present situation.

(f) Ms CHENG Lai-king said the TPB had consulted the C&WDC on the development of the HKSKH’s Central Compound, but the information provided by the HKSKH at present was inadequate. She hoped that the plan could give consideration to conservation. In addition, Ms CHENG said that if the Central and

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Western District wished to apply for World Cultural Heritage status, it should properly conserve the existing monuments. She also suggested that the CPS Compound could be open for visit by nearby residents before official opening to test its crowd arrangement.

(g) The Vice-chairman said he had expressed at the last meeting the wish for the DEVB to arrange a visit to Murray Building for C&WDC members and hoped that the DEVB would follow up. In addition, the Vice-chairman enquired what ancillary transport facilities would be provided if the progress of the construction of the footbridge connecting the CPS Compound failed to meet the opening of the Compound. He also said that the pavement there was very narrow and crowd dispersal after major events would increase the traffic load at Hollywood Road. He would like to know the relevant arrangements of the Administration.

(h) The Chairman said he had suggested inviting non-government organisations to visit the CPS Compound before its official opening in order to test its reception capacity.

31. Mr LEE Hong-nin of the DEVB responded to Members’ comments. As regards arranging a visit to Murray Building for C&WDC members, he said he had contacted the relevant hotel operator and the hotel operator was working with the C&WDC Secretariat to arrange a suitable time for the visit. Regarding the arrangements concerning traffic, footbridge and pedestrian flow, etc. associated with the CPS Compound, Mr LEE said that the HKJC was discussing with the TD and other relevant departments on appropriate arrangements. The DEVB would relay Members’ concerns to the HKJC. It was understood that the HKJC planned to arrange a site visit to the CPS Compound for C&WDC members in April, and would arrange visits for various local groups in order to test its reception capacity before official opening. The precise situation would be pending formal notification from the HKJC to Members. The DEVB and the HKJC would work together to monitor the progress. In response to Mr NG Siu-hong's enquiry on the recovery option for Block 4 of the CPS Compound, Mr LEE said that the DEVB and the HKJC had consulted the Antiquities Advisory Board and the C&WDC on various recovery options in 2016 and 2017. The HKJC was currently working on the detailed design after listening to their views. Mr LEE said that he did not have details of the expansion project of City Hall, but added that in implementing major infrastructure project, the Government would follow the established procedures to consult the District Council concerned and obtain funding approval from the Legislative Council (LegCo).

32. Ms LEE Hoi-lun , Assistant Secretary (Heritage Conservation) 3 of the DEVB, responded to questions on the HKSKH’s Central Compound. She indicated that the HKSKH

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was currently assessing the impacts on traffic, visual, air ventilation, heritage value of the historic buildings, etc. to be brought by the project, and would maintain communication with government departments including the TD, the PlanD and the AMO of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. In view of the concern of C&WDC on traffic, the HKSKH submitted the preliminary traffic layout plan to the C&WDC for consultation with Members once it was finalised. In response to Mr CHAN Chit-kwai’s comments, Ms LEE pointed out that Lower Albert Road was a two-way road. According to the HKSKH’s current design, vehicles leaving the hospital must turn right heading for Garden Road to avoid causing traffic congestion at Glenealy, Ice House Street and Wyndham Street. The HKSKH had yet to finalise the design proposal for traffic heading for the hospital. It would like to listen to the views of the C&WDC and need to conduct a detailed traffic impact assessment before making a decision. In addition, in response to Mr CHAN Chit-kwai’s enquiry on the number of parking spaces, Ms LEE said that the HKSKH provided about 90 parking spaces in accordance with the requirement of the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines. In addition, Ms LEE pointed out that the HKSKH had attached great importance to the historic buildings within its Central site. Hence, it would be very careful in handling the project and would implement appropriate monitoring and mitigation measures to prevent the project from affecting the historic buildings.

33. Regarding the New Central Harbourfront project, Mr CHU Ho of the DEVB said that “Conserving Central” primarily covered the future development of Sites 1 and 2. The progress update had therefore provided the latest information on the way forward of the sites. In response to Mr CHAN Choi-hi's enquiry that the Administration would conduct consultation on the future development option and design of Sites 1 and 2 of the new Central Harbourfront, as the sites were still required for the works associated with the Central – Wan Chai Bypass in the next few years, the DEVB would carry out the required technical studies according to the design concepts recommended in the Urban Design Study for the New Central Harbourfront (UDS). the DEVB would consult the C&WDC, the Harbourfront Commission (HC) and other stakeholders when a design proposal and specific land use proposal were available. Regarding the future development of Site 3 of the new Central Harbourfront, Mr CHU said that the issue had been discussed by the C&WDC on various occasions and reiterated that two rounds of extensive public engagement exercises had been conducted in 2008 and 2009 for the UDS. Final recommendations were put forward in 2011 after fully considering the views received in the public engagement exercises. The Government prepared the draft planning brief for Site 3 in accordance with the design concepts recommended in the UDS and consulted the C&WDC and the HC in October 2016. The planning brief was then submitted to the TPB and was approved. The Administration would progressively implement the long-term development based on the approved planning brief. In response to Mr CHAN Choi-hi’s enquiry on the events to be held at the new Central Harbourfront, Mr CHU said that at present, the operator of the Central Harbourfront Event

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Space (CHES) notified the Working Group on the Central & Western District Harbourfront of the C&WDC about events and activities held at the CHES through regular circulation. If Members were interested to receive such information, the DEVB might also ask the Secretariat to make arrangements. In response to Mr HUI Chi-fung’s enquiry on the future development of Site 5, Mr CHU pointed out that the site was currently zoned for government, institution and community uses in the Central District (Extension) Outline Zoning Plan. The relocation and expansion of the Judiciary at this site complied with the always permitted uses of the site. The Judiciary and the Architectural Services Department were currently conducting studies on its future development, and the C&WDC would be consulted again when all relevant information was available. Regarding the enquiry on the Central Military Dock (CMD), Mr CHU said that the planning procedures had not yet completed as the relevant judicial review proceeding was yet to be completed. He reiterated that the Government considered it not suitable to open up the CMD site for any public activities before it was handed over to the Garrison.  The Government would make appropriate arrangements to hand over the CMD site to the Garrison upon completion of the relevant procedures. Regarding the opening arrangements for the military dock site raised by Mr CHAN Chit-kwai, Mr CHU said that the Garrison had earlier confirmed that it would, having regard to its operation and need for protecting the military dock, open the area of the military dock site to the public when the dock was not in military use.

34. Mr HUI Chi-fung was surprised to hear the DEVB say that it was unable to provide details of the expansion project of City Hall. He also pointed out that the Administration had not mentioned to the C&WDC about the expansion project before. He hoped the DEVB would supplement whether there was any timetable and whether it would consult a consultation on this.

35. Mr NG Siu-hong expressed the hope to learn about the conservation features of modernist architecture when visiting Murray Building. He also suggested that guided tours be organised to introduce the conservation project. Besides, Mr NG requested a site visit to the footbridge connecting the CPS Compound be arranged for Members, and was concerned about the possible impact if the footbridge could not be properly connected to the Central-Mid-Levels Escalator and Walkway System (CML Escalator System). As regards the recovery option for Block 4, Mr NG wished to know which one of the options the HKJC’s detailed design work was based on. Furthermore, Mr NG wondered why the DEVB was not clear about the direction of development of City Hall. He considered that the C&WDC would be prevented from monitoring the work of the Government in taking forward of the project if it could not obtain the relevant information. Mr NG also pointed out that the previous consultation on the GPO in Central was not properly conducted. He asked if the Administration would consider further consultation in light of the present situation that many people wished the GPO could be preserved. In addition, Mr NG enquired about the reason

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why the military dock site was currently not open to the public, and requested opening up of the area for the public to watch this year's dragon boat races.

36. Mr LEE Hong-nin of the DEVB responded that the purpose of the item was to update Members on the eight projects under the “Conserving Central” initiative. The DEVB could relay the views of the C&WDC to the department in charge of the expansion project of City Hall if need be. In response to Mr NG Siu-hong’s comments on the footbridge connecting the CPS Compound, Mr LEE suggested to discuss the issue in detail at the Working Group on Concern over the Development of the Central Police Station Compound and Former Police Married Quarters.

37. In response to Mr NG Siu-hong’s comments on Site 3 of the new Central Harbourfront, Mr CHU Ho of the DEVB said that extensive and comprehensive public consultation had been conducted during the planning stage of the whole new Central Harbourfront. In particular, during the UDS process, a comprehensive public engagement process was conducted in 2008 and 2009 on the urban design framework and the design concept of the eight key sites. The relevant recommendations had gone through a comprehensive public consultation process and received public support. In 2016, after consulting the C&WDC and the HC, the Government submitted the planning brief for Site 3 to the TPB and was endorsed. The DEVB would progressively implement the long-term development of the site based on the approved planning brief. As for the comments on the military dock, Mr CHU reiterated that the Government considered it not suitable to open up the site before completion of the judicial proceedings and planning procedures.

38. The Chairman decided to close the discussion on this item as there were no further questions from Members.

Item 6: A Brief on the 2018-19 Government Budget – District-related Initiatives(C&W DC Paper No. 32/2018)

(4:07 pm – 4:49 pm)

39. The Chairman said that in view of the district-related initiatives announced in the Financial Secretary’s latest Budget, Mrs WONG HO Wing -s ze , District Officer (Central and Western) (DO(C&W)), was invited to brief the C&WDC on the subject on behalf of the Home Affairs Department (HAD).

40. Mr HUI Chi-fung raised a point of order on why the government department concerned did not provide any written response to the paper. He understood that the paper was issued just a few days ago, but remarked that there were occasions in the past where

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government department provided written response within a short time. Moreover, given that the Budget involved substantive provision and specific plans, he reckoned that the HAD should not fail to provide even a brief written response. He also said that whether or not the Government provided a written response on this issue would affect the message received by the public. He opined that if the public knew that the HAD would respond to the contents of the Budget, they might wish to speak at the meeting or submit petition letters. He said that as the representative of the HAD would only make a verbal report at the meeting, the public would only learn about the details after browsing the minutes of the meeting some time later.

41. The Chairman responded that the paper was issued rather urgently in response to the district-related initiatives and the setting aside of $8 billion for district facilities as announced in the Budget, and Mrs WONG was therefore invited to give a briefing to the Council to keep Members abreast of the subject and enable Members to present their views to the Government through Mrs WONG. He first invited Mrs WONG to give Members a brief introduction on the subject.

42. Mrs WONG said that according to her understanding of the paper, the Chairman would like her to give a brief introduction on the relevant section of the Budget pertinent to districts. She said that the briefing was on the request of the C&WDC and was not a standing item. The HAD had not yet outlined the relevant topic of the Budget to the LegCo at this stage. The details were yet to be finalised. However, in order to give the Council a preliminary idea about the subject as soon as possible, she would first provide Members with an initial briefing, even though she might not be able to address the detailed arrangements of the subject. In case of any questions that she was unable to give an immediate reply, she would check with the relevant departments and follow up. She thanked the Chairman for giving her an opportunity to make preliminary exchange with the C&WDC and brief Members on the initiatives in the Budget that were pertinent to districts. In response to a Member’s view that government department should provide a written response to the paper, she remarked that since the purpose of the paper was to briefly introduce the Budget, the Budget itself was thus the most detailed written response to the paper. She would just give a brief introduction in the hope to briefly outline the district-related issues in the Budget. Besides, she could not explain the detailed proposals and arrangements of various policies on behalf of policy bureaux. Mrs WONG added that government departments or other organisations had also been invited to C&WDC meetings in the past to give briefings on some topics. At the time, those departments or organisations were not required to provide written response to the papers concerned; they simply attended upon invitation the meetings to give briefings. 43. Mr CHAN Chit-kwai said that Members were highly concerned about the allocation of $8 billion for district works projects. He roughly estimated that each district

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would be allocated $400 million on an equal basis. He supported the submission of paper to invite government representative to give Members a briefing, and considered that a written response was not necessary for this. He attached importance to exchanging of views on and discussing the subject at the meeting, and hoped no time would be wasted on the issue of whether a written response was provided.

44. Mrs WONG gave a briefing to Members with focus on some of the major directions in the Budget, saying that these directions were also closely related to districts, including medical projects. She indicated that the Government would set aside $300 billion to support hospital development and service improvement of clinics under the Department of Health for 2018-19. On economic development, she said that the Government had earmarked over $50 billion for development of key industries, including innovation and technology, creative industries, tourism, trading and logistics, and financial services. Details would be announced later by the policy bureaux. The Administration would collaborate with districts in order to make good use of government resources, develop the economy, and improve people's livelihood through district networks. On caring and sharing, in addition to tax concession, rates concession, two additional months of allowance for the needy, and a one-off grant of $2,000 to each student in need, the Government would also allocate $500 million to strengthen support for ethnic minorities. She said that although the Central and Western District might not have the highest concentration of ethnic minorities in the territory, it was still an important development direction. Details of the funding arrangements were to be announced by the policy bureaux. Furthermore, a total of $220 million would be provided to strengthen care for children and disadvantaged youths. In addition, the Government would earmark $2.5 billion to set up a Student Activity Support Fund to provide support to students in need to participate in activities, and set aside $1 billion to support youth development. She took the opportunity to thank the C&WDC for its views that reflected the issue of students in the district being unable to participate in extra-curricular activities due to financial difficulties, to which the Government had responded accordingly.

45. Mrs WONG continued her briefing on projects related to district facilities. She said that for district facilities, the Government had set aside $8 billion in 2018-19 for improvement of district facilities in all 18 districts under the coordination of the Home Affairs Bureau. It was expected that each district would be able to implement one project. She said that the project would be government-led and adopt a different approach from that of the Signature Project Scheme (SPS). The government policy bureaux or departments concerned would, based on the views previously expressed by District Council on the local public works projects required, consolidate the suggestions received, with a view to expediting the provision of the recommended district facility long sought. Mrs WONG hoped that resources would be allocated to the public works project that was most beneficial to and most required by the community. The details had yet to be finalised. Detailed proposal, when available,

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would be submitted to the Council and Members’ views would be sought. After gaining the support of District Council, the government department concerned would follow the necessary procedures to apply for relevant funding from the LegCo. District Council needed not deal with matters related to funding application. In addition, Mrs WONG said that the Government had, after listening to the views of District Council about local community’s aspirations for market modernisation, also earmarked an additional $2 billion for implementing the relevant work in 2018-19. She stressed that although funding had been set aside by the Government, detailed implementation plan was still required to be submitted to the Council and the Concern Group on the Development of Markets in the Central and Western District in order to seek the views of Members and market vendors. She said she understood that it was the wish of many residents to have air-conditioning in markets, but it was also necessary to discuss with market vendors about the relevant works. Apart from taking care of the public, the views of the market stakeholders should also be taken into consideration.

46. Mrs WONG said that with regard to sports, the Government would allocate $100 million in 2018-19 for the launch of a District Sports Programmes Funding Scheme. The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) would be responsible for the disbursement of funds to the recreation and sports organisations of each district to encourage wider community participation in sports. Relevant details would be reported to the Council after formulation of work plan by the LCSD and the recreation and sports organisations. As regards the expansion of City Hall, Mrs WONG said that according to the Budget, the Government would set aside $20 billion for the improvement and development of cultural facilities, including the construction of the New Territories East Cultural Centre, and the expansion of the Science Museum, the Museum of History and City Hall. The LCSD was still studying the feasibility of expansion of the City Hall facilities, primarily the performing and rehearsal facilities. The proposal was made in response to the views expressed by the Council and a number of art groups that venues of the City Hall had a high utilisation rate but with insufficient facilities. Therefore, the Government wished to take this opportunity to study the feasibility of expansion of the City Hall facilities. Since the LCSD was still at the early study stage, relevant details were not yet available. The LCSD would consult the C&WDC when a detailed proposal was drawn up.

47. The Chairman invited discussion and the main points of Members’ comments were as follows:

(a) Mr HUI Chi-fung wished to have more details on the $8 billion funding. He learned that the project would be government-led, and remarked that which party was to apply funding from the LegCo should not be the only difference between government-led and District Council-led. He considered the decision-making

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procedures highly important. He asked if a paper would be available to provide details, including how to use the funding, the model of collaboration between Government and District Council, categorisation of projects (such as facilities or infrastructure), actual amount of funding, channels adopted by District Council to monitor the use of funds, project schedule, etc. If so, he asked when such paper would be submitted to the C&WDC. He wished to know that in the case of government-led, whether the procedure would be for the Government to submit proposal first for consultation with District Council, or consult District Council first before submitting proposal.

(b) Mr NG Siu-hong was concerned about the distribution of the $8 billion funding. He enquired whether the $8 billion funding would be evenly distributed among the 18 districts for each to complete a project, or each District Council would be further divided into constituencies to receive funding. He said he learned that the implementation of SPS project in some districts was not satisfactory and the facilities provided were not welcome by the public. He asked if there would be more participation by the public and professionals in the project this time, so as to ensure effective use of resources in terms of functions and aesthetics of the facilities provided under the project. He remarked that upon provision of the new facilities, the operating costs involved would be huge. He enquired how the Government would act accordingly.

(c) Mr CHEUNG Kwok-kwan said that the Government had explicitly indicated that the $8 billion funding would be used for the increase of district facilities in all 18 districts. He understood that the funding should be classified as for facilities rather than district services. He welcomed the Government's initiative to set aside resources to increase district facilities, remarking that the 18 districts had always hoped to take forward many livelihood projects, but were unable to do so due to resource constraint. He hoped to understand more about the following aspects: (i) whether the additional facilities that the Government considered to provide were limited to those which had previously been endorsed by District Council, and whether new proposals would be considered; (ii) whether additional district facilities would be provided in all 18 districts; and (iii) detailed arrangements for the provision of additional facilities in 18 districts. He asked if any further information was available at this stage.

(d) Mr YEUNG Hok-ming supported the allocation of $8 billion by the Government for the provision of additional facilities in the districts. He indicated that Members and the general public alike wished that additional facilities could be provided at the continuous promenade. He asked whether the funding could be used for this

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proposal. Besides, he said that there was a lack of elderly and child care services in the district, and asked if the funding could be used to provide such services. Regarding the $2 billion funding for market modernisation, he agreed that this would help improve market facilities, but indicated that the provision of air-conditioning or conversion of market would have significant impact on market vendors. He cited the provision of air-conditioning as an example, saying that some market vendors would oppose such proposal because they had to bear the maintenance fee, management fee and electricity charge for the air-conditioning, which would double the amount of rent they were currently paying each month. He remarked that in Shek Tong Tsui Market, while owners of cooked food stalls would wish to have air-conditioning as it would increase their turnover in summer, stall operators selling groceries or other types of goods might consider that their stalls were cool enough and have concern that they might not be able to meet the extra expenses after the installation of air conditioners. Mr YEUNG hoped that the Government would consult market vendors before taking forward the improvement project. He pointed out that the FEHD had earlier organised a competition with the theme on market, in which residents nearby were invited by email to elect their favorite market vendors. He said that the activity had received positive feedback. Mr YEUNG remarked that young couples nowadays did not like to visit public markets for grocery shopping. They were mostly of the view that the environment of public markets was not as pleasing and clean as supermarkets because floor was slippery in public markets with goods placed on the floor, leaving a narrow passage difficult for people to pass through. He opined that while punitive measures might not be welcomed by market vendors, the adoption of positive measures to encourage vendors, such as providing incentives to stall operators for orderly placement of goods, would be more effective. He asked if the $2 billion funding could be used to organise a similar competition. He said that score sheets could be sent by post to nearby residents. The elected stall operators would be given awards. It could also provide an ideal opportunity for promotion to residents of the types of goods offered in the market through the score sheets. He hoped the Government would consider this suggestion. In addition, Mr YEUNG asked, on behalf of Mr LEE Chi-hang, if the $2 billion funding for market modernisation could be used to convert the top floor of Sai Ying Pun Market, saying that many residents considered that the dry goods sold by the stall operators at the top floor of Sai Ying Pun Market were also available in the Centre Street Market. Also, as there were vacant stalls in the Centre Street Market, stall operators in the top floor of Sai Ying Pun Market could relocate to the Centre Street Market to continue their operation. He suggested converting the Sai Ying Pun Market into a study room, community service facilities or a small community library.

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(e) Mr YEUNG Hoi-wing said he learned that currently the SPS projects in some districts, such as the Kwai Tsing District, were in the form of provision of community services. He enquired whether the said $8 billion funding could only be used for additional district facilities, but not for additional district services. He said that he had earlier participated in activities of the Working Group on Elderly Service, where many elderly people remarked that the traffic of the district had many problems. For example, there was not direct transportation to the Grantham Hospital. He hoped that services of this kind could be provided to the elderly.

(f) Ms CHENG Lai-king said that two sections of the CML Escalator System would be closed for maintenance for half a year from March this year onwards. She said many residents had reflected to her that the CML Escalator System had a history of over 20 years and new facilities should be provided as alternatives. She said that she had suggested to the TD a number of sites for lifts retrofitting under the “Universal Accessibility” Programme, but were all rejected by the TD on the ground that the programme aimed to install elevators at existing footbridges, elevated walkways or pedestrian subways. She opined that if lifts could be retrofitted at locations that were access point to/from the Mid-levels, it would provide convenience to wheelchair users and residents with prams or trolleys. She enquired about the amount out of the earmarked $8 billion to be distributed to each district and whether the funding could be used for lifts retrofitting at locations with genuine needs. She said that such facilities were highly desired by residents. She was concerned that if the project was government-led and not based on suggestions by Members, whether the facilities so provided were really suitable for the Central and Western District. She welcomed the Financial Secretary’s proposal to set aside $8 billion to improve district facilities, but was disappointed that the Council had no right to give views and make decisions on the project. She agreed with Mr YEUNG Hoi-wing’s suggestion to set up a direct minibus route to the Grantham Hospital. She said it could meet the needs of the elderly in the district who had to attend follow-up consultations at the Grantham Hospital, as they could reach the hospital without having to walk or make four interchanges. She hoped that flexibility would be allowed to use the funding to provide services of this kind. In addition, she remarked that it was not mentioned in the project details of the expansion of City Hall that the City Hall had to be closed for three years for expansion. She enquired whether the City Hall would be closed for three years for expansion after the completion of the West Kowloon Cultural District. She considered that the Budget lacked detailed information, which prevented Members from explaining to the public to dispel their worries. For instance, how the public was to use the library facilities therein during the City Hall’s three-year closure.

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She hoped Mrs WONG could relay such views to the Office of the Financial Secretary.

(g) Mr KAM Nai-wai said that his concern on “Government-led” was not about whether application for funding from the LegCo was to be made by District Council or government department. He was of the view that it was an outdated approach in the provision of additional district facilities. He said that as “public discussion” was advocated nowadays, it would cause considerable repercussions if the project was government-led. He hoped that the public would be able to participate in taking forward the policy concerned in the future. Besides, he hoped that the $8 billion funding would not be restricted for use in providing additional district facilities, but could also be used to provide additional services to residents. In addition, he was concerned about the continuation of the new facilities and services in the long run and considered that providing a one-off funding might not solve the problem. He said that the C&WDC had discussed various district services and facilities in the past two years. He suggested that a list of the items discussed before could be prepared to understand various district needs, which could then be submitted to the Council for Members to discuss how to use the funding and enhance public participation. He said that with only one year or so left before the current term of C&WDC ended, the new facilities or services might not be available within a short time. However, it could at least show to the public that the relevant work was already in progress and so no need to wait several years for implementation.

(h) Mr CHAN Chit-kwai welcomed the Government's initiative to allocate additional resources for district facilities. He said that an effort had to be made to study how to put the resources to effective use and avoid waste. He considered that the SPS project of the C&WDC was successful and it was worthwhile to make reference to this experience. He also remarked that albeit various views were expressed by Members at the time, the C&WDC was able to resolve efficiently on the project to be taken forward after discussion. He hoped that this time the funding for provision of additional district facilities and promotion of sports in the community could also be handled in this way. He said that Members did not only represent themselves, but also the opinions and views of the general public. He reckoned that Members should give play to their functions fully and participate in the relevant discussion. He pointed out that for the SPS project, serious discussions had been held and Members were quick to reach a consensus. Also, a team had been set up to supervise and implement the whole project. Regarding the Government’s initiative to allocate $100 million to the recreation and sports organisations of each district to launch the District Sports Programmes Funding

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Scheme, Mr CHAN hoped that the C&WDC could increase participation in and monitor the operation of the scheme. He said that the C&WDC had heard a lot of opinions on leisure and cultural programmes in the past and had closely monitored recreation and sports programmes organised in the district. He reckoned that the results would be more satisfying if the funding initiative was to be led by District Council in collaboration with recreation and sports organisations.

(i) The Chairman said that if the Government was to allocate funding for the provision of additional district facilities, he hoped that the suggestions put forth by District Council would be respected and the pressing needs of the community would be addressed by allocating the funding to provide user-friendly facilities previously recommended by the Council, so as to benefit the district at large.

48. In response to Members’ views, Mrs WONG HO Wing -s ze , DO(C&W), said that the Government would maintain dialogue with District Councils and listen to views in taking forward the initiatives in the Budget. She indicated that the $8 billion funding for provision of additional district facilities was government-led because the funding was targetted at public works. She explained that the SPS project launched earlier on was aimed to develop a brand-new project and was thus of a different nature to this funding provision. She said that the current funding provision was intended to be a response to the remarks by District Councils on the facilities that were commonly used and much needed by the general public. The process for provision of these facilities might take years if it was to be implemented by Government’s works departments in accordance with normal procedures. Hence, the said funding was provided to respond expeditiously to such demand. She reiterated that the additional facilities provided using this funding provision would certainly be those previously proposed by District Council, urgently needed by the public, and quick-wins. As such, the scheme would certainly be based on the views provided by District Council. She hoped that the additional facilities provided in the district would start to bear fruit in one to two years. In response to Mr HUI Chi-fung, she said that the 18 districts were still reviewing the projects previously put forth by District Councils, and the new facilities to be provided in each district would be confirmed later. The amount of the funding (i.e. $8 billion) was only an estimate, and the amount to be granted to each district could not be ascertained at this moment. She opined that the most important was for this funding to enable the provision of the most needed facilities in each district. She said she would report to the Council the facilities proposed to be provided after reviewing the public works projects previously put forward by the Council. She stressed that in addition to considerations such as previously proposed by District Council, urgently needed by the public, and quick-win, another key principle was that the proposed facilities could widely benefit residents of the Central and Western District. In addition, she clarified that this funding was earmarked for the provision of new facilities and thus could not be used for provision of additional services. Nevertheless, she had all along

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reflected to relevant parties the importance of district services. Last year when there was an increase of several million dollars in the funding for the Community Involvement Programme in the Central and Western District, the Council did allocate such funding to district services as far as possible. She said that the C&WDC had shifted its focus on the use of funding from organisation of events in the past to provision of district services, and believed that this would also be the future direction. She added that this funding provision was only a proactive measure to address the facility works that District Councils had discussed before and the public urgently needed. It did not mean that this was the end. In future, she would continue to relay to relevant parties the suggestions put forward by Members on provision of other services and facilities.

49. The Chairman hoped that the Government would report to the Council as soon as possible when detailed information on the said initiatives was available. He also said that the Council in general wished that a direct minibus route to the Grantham Hospital could be set up to meet the needs of the elderly in attending follow-up consultations at the hospital. He indicated that the C&WDC had in the past recommended various projects that would benefit the community, and understood that there were priorities for projects and they must be implemented in phases. He hoped Mrs WONG would continue to relay the views and concerns of Members to the Administration.

50. Mr CHAN Choi-hi indicated that consultancy fee normally accounted for a large part of the project cost in public works projects. He hoped that the $8 billion funding for provision of additional district facilities could all be allocated to the provision of district facilities, with the consultancy fee to be borne separately by government departments.

51. The Chairman closed the discussion on this item.

Item 7: Progress Report on the Central and Western District-led Actions Scheme and Work Foci for 2018-19(C&W DC Paper No. 21/2018)

(4:49 pm – 4:58 pm)

52. The Chairman welcomed representatives of the C&WDO to the meeting and invited Mrs WONG HO Wing -s ze , DO(C&W), to brief Members on the progress of the Central and Western District-led Actions Scheme (DAS).

53. Mrs WONG HO Wing -s ze began by expressing, on behalf of the C&WDO, thanks to the C&WDC for its efforts in implementing DAS. Mrs WONG referred to the previous four rounds of cleansing operations, including provision of additional resources to the FEHD

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for setting up of cleansing squad to step up cleansing services of the district; street cleaning services targetting at hygiene black spots in the district; dog excreta cleaning up services; and stepping up cleaning of bagged refuse black spots in the district. In a new round of cleansing operations, services were extended to “three-nil” buildings and common areas of private roads. In addition, the C&WDO had conducted independent surveys to gauge how residents and shop operators rated the services. The latest survey was carried out in December 2017, almost 80% of respondents considered the cleansing services effective in improving environmental hygiene. On the other hand, the hygiene conditions at specific spots still had room for improvement. For instance, more efforts were required to eliminate smell produced by excreta left by dogs. Mrs WONG said that the C&WDO would continue to follow up on the cleansing work at the relevant spots.

54. Mrs WONG continued to report on the publicity and education activities under DAS. She said that in addition to displaying promotional banners throughout the district, promotional leaflets and cleaning packs were also distributed to students and residents in the district to remind them to maintain personal and environmental hygiene. Mrs WONG added that in addition to distribution through Members and the C&WDO, the cleaning packs were also distributed at schools and were well-received by students and parents, thus achieving good publicity results. She said the C&WDO would keep up the efforts. In addition, the C&WDO would also collaborate with the FEHD to step up publicity activities targetting foreign domestic helpers' associations and owners' associations to raise hygiene awareness of foreign domestic helpers, particularly those who often had to walk dogs. Mrs WONG also stressed that restaurants were important stakeholders. Improvement in the hygiene conditions of restaurants would help enhance environmental hygiene of the community. As such, the C&WDO, in conjunction with Members and the FEHD, visited restaurants to carry out publicity work before the recent Lunar New Year. Apart from general publicity work, in light of the significant results achieved in publicity work at schools, the C&WDO specially produced a promotional picture book for school children. It was the first-ever children's picture book on the theme of environmental hygiene in the 18 districts, and expected to be published in the second quarter of this year. In addition to topics related to environmental hygiene, the picture book also adopted Ms CHENG Lai-king’s views by incorporating educational elements on waste reduction at source to encourage readers to reduce refuse production. Besides, the C&WDO was producing an animation video on the picture book and seeking to broadcast it via different channels, including the Internet, television and radio stations.

55. Mrs WONG added that apart from the work under DAS, the C&WDO had been maintaining close contact with the FEHD in making concerted efforts to tackle other environmental hygiene problems that were of concern to Members or residents, such as droppings of feral pigeons. She said she was coordinating with the FEHD on installation of

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spikes or screen at the black spots of feral pigeon congregation and stepping up enforcement work against feeding of feral pigeons. In addition, the C&WDO was also following up on the wild pig issue that was of concern to Members. Mrs WONG stressed that although no DAS resources was involved, the above work was district operations that the C&WDO had also attached great importance to. Furthermore, the C&WDO also expressed concern on obstruction of pedestrian passageway by foreign domestic helpers congregating outside World-Wide House in Central on holidays for packaging of goods. She indicated that the C&WDO, the Police and the FEHD had made effort to address the issue by exploring the feasibility of slightly relocate the area where foreign domestic helpers used for packaging purpose to prevent obstruction of passageway well used by pedestrians, such as escalators.

56. Mrs WONG wished to seek Members’ views on the funding allocation of DAS for 2018/2019. She said that a number of Members had expressed concern about environmental hygiene, and the residents surveyed agreed that cleansing services were effective in improving overall environmental hygiene conditions. Also, the C&WDO had gauged the views of many owners and chairmen of owners’ corporations/associations and learned that they generally considered environmental hygiene work indispensable. Hence, she suggested that environmenal hygiene should continue to be the major initiative under DAS for the coming year. She said that although the amount of funding for 2018/2019 was yet to be confirmed by the HAD, assuming that the funding amount was $4 million, she would recommend to earmark at least $3 million for work related to environmental hygiene. As regards the reason for setting aside only $3 million, it was in response to the views of individual Members that the environmental hygiene work under DAS had been implemented for some time; with the experience garnered, the FEHD could make use of its own resources to carry out some of the work. Mrs WONG also acknowledged the efforts of the FEHD. She said that the FEHD had been continuously upgrading the quality of its services, and believed that the quality of relevant services, particulary for improving the hygiene conditions of black spots, could still be maintained even with reduced resources. As for the remaining $1 million, she suggested that consideration might be given to deploying resources to address other problems and welcomed Members' views in this regard. She remarked that some Members had suggested using the funding to provide community services, especially those where district needs could not be met by the basic services offered by the Government. It was considered that if such services were tried out on a pilot basis by utilising DAS resources, it could provide experience on taking forward such work. The Government could also draw reference from it when launching relevant services and provide additional resources in this area. Mrs WONG believed that Members had given their views based on the above principles. As stated in the fifth paragraph of the paper, the scope of services proposed by Members included services related to child care or special educational needs, services for young people, environmental protection/waste reduction/recycling, etc. All these had responded to the practical needs of the Hong Kong society. Mrs WONG hoped that in launching new services, consideration

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could be given to collaborating with different service units to make good use of resources and increase participation of community organisations, as well as create job opportunities. Mrs WONG said that at this stage she hoped to establish the funding direction for the coming year (i.e. with a focus on environmental hygiene work), and allocate some of the resources to district services. As for the detailed proposal on district services, she welcomed suggestions from Members, or it could be left for further discussion at Council meetings after the funding amount was confirmed by the HAD.

57. The Chairman thanked Mrs WONG for her presentation and asked if Members had further comments on the paper.

58. As Members had no further comments, the Chairman closed the discussion on this item.

Item 8: Wild Pigs Intruding into Urban Areas(C&W DC Paper No. 24/2018)

(4:58 pm – 5:24 pm)

59. The Vice-chairman welcomed representatives of the FEHD and the AFCD to the meeting, and invited discussion on the paper.

60. The Vice-chairman invited views from Members.

(a) Mr YOUNG Chit-on thanked the FEHD and the AFCD for conducting joint visits with Members to locations where wild pigs were spotted. He said that cases of wild pigs intruding into urban areas were recorded in the past few years, not confining to hilltops. Some residents had also reflected to him that incidents of wild pigs wandering into residential areas were on the rise. He said that wild pigs in the wild was a natural phenomenon, which was a symbol of the rich biodiversity of Hong Kong and thus should continue. However, some factors had aggravated the problem of wild pigs intruding into urban areas in search of food, including the ever increasing food waste, insufficient number or capacity of refuse collection points, as well as inappropriate refuse collection frequency and hours. All these had attracted wild animals to appear in urban areas in search of food. He remarked that a number of experts had in the past suggested that wild pigs reproduced fast in environment with food supply. He opined that the problem would go out of hand a few years later if it was not addressed squarely now. He was worried about the need to hunt and kill wild pigs by then, and nobody would like to see that happen. He said there was evidence showing that there were people rearing wild pigs, and

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he had discussed several times with government departments about the issue in the hope to tackle the problem through a three-pronged approach. First, he reckoned that the Government should urge the public not to keep wild pigs, and heavy fine should be imposed on anyone found doing so. Secondly, improvement should be made to the refuse collection hours and design of refuse collection facilities, such as by adding some devices to prevent wild animals from scavenging for food from litter bins. Thirdly, relevant departments should capture wild pigs that wandered into urban areas and neuter them before releasing them to country parks. He hoped the Government could act quickly, remarking that wild pigs were used to returning to previous foraging grounds. He also indicated that video clips were taken and uploaded onto the Internet by a member of the public two weeks ago, showing wild pigs scavenging litter bins for food at the refuse collection point next to the Victoria Peak Fire Station. This had made Hong Kong an international laughing stock. He considered that this was not what the public wanted to see. He added that wild pigs were not scary, but the environmental hygiene and traffic problems brought by them were getting worse. He said that a wild pig died last week after being hit by car on Coombe Road. He also did not wish to see government staff injured in capturing wild pigs. For instance, earlier two government staff members in the Eastern District were injured and admitted to hospital in capturing wild pigs. Hence, he hoped that government departments could work together to resolve the problem of wild pigs intruding into urban areas as soon as possible.

(b) Ms CHENG Lai-king said that occupants of buildings on Conduit Road would put garbage in black plastic bags and place them on roadside every night for collection by private contractors the next morning. As a result, wild pigs might have become accustomed to foraging food at Conduit Road at night, leaving trash scattered on the ground. Residents would find those streets wet and dirty every time they passed by in the morning. She indicated that as roads in the Mid-levels were narrow, people passing by were baffled by trash scattered everywhere. The FEHD would also need to arrange street cleansing and washing. In addition, she noticed that wild pigs often appeared in herds and were not afraid of people and vehicles. She did not know whether wild pigs had to look for food in the urban area due to insufficient food supply in their dwelling places, or whether garbage in the urban area was more attractive than natural food in their dwelling places. She said that she had submitted a paper to the C&WDC in mid-2017 expressing the hope to conduct study on the wild pig issues, including how to guide wild pigs back to the wooded areas. In her view, the wooded areas should be the natural habitat of wild pigs and they should not stray in urban areas in search of food. She said that nowadays housing development had been extending to hills along Conduit Road and Po Shan Road where there might be wild pigs inhabited. She opined that

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harmony between humans and wild pigs might not be possible as some residents were afraid of wild pigs. Hence, she hoped that the problem of wild pigs foraging food in urban areas could be solved.

(c) Mr YEUNG Hok-ming said that according to the response from a concerned department, the AFCD and the FEHD were taking measures to prevent wild pigs from foraging food in urban areas, including commissioning a consultancy study to public design experts in mid-2018. He enquired whether the scope of the study was confined to the design of litter bins with a view to reducing scavenging wild pigs, and said that the scope should be extended to cover the life habits of wild pigs. He said that Ms CHENG Lai-king had earlier expressed the hope for the C&WDC to allocate funding for conducting study on reducing nuisance caused to residents by wild pigs. He considered that funding should be allocated by the AFCD as the AFCD was duty-bound to conduct these studies. As mentioned by the department concerned, contraceptive vaccine would be provided and neutering operations would be performed on wild pigs by veterinary surgeons at appropriate locations, he asked whether these locations included the Central and Western District. He said that the rope net for covering the soil on the slope near Lung Fu Shan and the University of Hong Kong (HKU) were already damaged by wild pigs. Besides, he had once seen a number of wild pigs strolling near the Haking Wong Building of the HKU around 9 pm. He said that young wild pigs, despite its adorable appearance, would become heavier than humans when they grew up and their teeth could cause bodily injury. He continued that wild pigs scavenging litter bins for food would frighten the public, worrying that they would be attacked by wild pigs. He did not want the issue to be addressed only after incident of attack had occurred. Mr YEUNG also indicated that he had seen food placed along the way downhill from plantation sites at Lung Fu Shan, and believed that some people had been feeding wild animals at regular hours. He hoped the AFCD and the FEHD could step up prosecution efforts against the feeding of wild animals.

(d) Mr CHAN Choi-hi said that apart from the Peak, a number of complaints had also been received recently concerning the sighting of wild pigs in the Mid-levels and on Lyttelton Road and Babington Path. On 27 February 2018, he conducted a field inspection with the staff of the AFCD and the FEHD to observe the refuse collection points at the Mid-levels. He noted that the situation was particularly serious at the refuse collection point on Kotewall Road, and a caretaker of a nearby building mentioned that wild pigs would visit the refuse collection point twice a day to forage for food. This showed that as the number of wild pigs grew, their foraging sites would not be confined to the Peak and Mid-levels. He did not want to see wild pigs foraging at places further down the Mid-levels and intruding

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further into the urban area. He also mentioned that there were cases of wild pigs straying in shopping malls in the Eastern District in 2016, reflecting the growing number of wild pigs foraging in urban areas. He noted that there were about 100 wild pigs in the Central and Western District. He hoped the AFCD could provide more accurate figures on the number of wild pigs currently in the Central and Western District. He hoped that microchips could be implanted to wild pigs captured by the departments concerned to keep track of their whereabouts, and suggested that the Central and Western District could also follow the Southern District in arranging neutering operations for wild pigs. He understood that it was not possible to preclude wild pigs from dwelling in the Central and Western District. But in the long run, he hoped that the AFCD could work out the appropriate number of wild pigs that the Central and Western District could accommodate, and control their number. He heard that wild pigs on the Hong Kong Island first came to Chai Wan from the New Territories by sea. As they continued to breed, their area of activity was further extended to the Mid-levels and the Peak. He opined that if there was no effective control on the number of wild pigs, consideration should be given to capturing some of them for returning to the New Territories. In the short term, he hoped that the AFCD would arrange neutering operations for wild pigs as soon as possible, and that the FEHD would install devices at refuse collection points to make it less easy for wild pigs to scavenge litter bins for food.

(e) Mr NG Siu-hong said that wild pigs would appear in places where there was food. He had previously seen wild pigs appearing near the litter bins on Conduit Road and at the barbecue site at Lung Fu Shan Country Park. Noting that the departments concerned were currently conducting study on the design of litter bins in the area, he enquired about the study’s progress and the timetable and methods for improving the litter bin design. He said that sturdy litter bins with lids should be provided on Conduit Road and at Lung Fu Shan Country Park, especially near the barbecue site. He was concerned that if wild pigs had become accustomed to scavenging litter bins for food near the barbecue site, more wild pigs would be attracted to the place, leading to a further increase in the number of wild pigs.

(f) Mr YIP Wing-shing said that members of the public should not disturb wild pigs in their natural habitats. But the fact was that wild animals like pigeons, wild pigs or wild dogs, etc. appeared in residential areas due to human feeding, as they might think that they needed not forage because people would give them food. He cited that he had seen wild pigs eating all the sweet potatoes in the Sai Kung Country Park, and indicated that when wild pigs saw garbage or food at the same place every day, they would get used to foraging for food at such place. He pointed out

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that humans and wild pigs lived in very different environments, and the public should not feed them. Hence, he considered that the departments concerned should impose heavier penalties on people feeding wild animals and institute prosecution against them. Furthermore, he was concerned that bacteria carried by wild pigs might pose threat to public health. On the other hand, he was worried about the danger of wild pigs attacking humans, given their large body size as seen in the photos. He said he did not wish to hurt wild pigs, and the approach of “repatriation upon arrest” might not be feasible as well. Just as what Mr YOUNG Chit-on said that wild pigs had a high reproductive rate, it was believed that if their number was multiplying, it would have great impact on the local community. Hence, he opined that the departments concerned should carry out neutering operations for wild pigs after capturing them in order to reduce their number. He also hoped that government departments would pay particular attention to and try out new measures to tackle problems brought by wild animals.

61. Mr CHEUNG Ka-shing , Senior Wetland and Fauna Conservation Officer of the AFCD, thanked Members for seeing the problems brought by wild pigs in a rational manner and having a basic understanding of the issue. He said that there were primarily two types of situations where wild pigs straying in residential areas or public areas and causing nuisances. The first was that wild pigs scavenging public litter bins or refuse collection points for food. These wild pigs were in general scared of humans. The second was that due to human feeding, wild pigs had become accustomed to foraging in the urban area and demanding food from humans. Through frequent contact with humans, these wild pigs had generally lost their natural fear of humans. The AFCD had adopted different approaches to address these two types of situations. If, after an investigation, it was found that the appearance of wild pigs was related to the second type of situation and such feeding behaviour had brought environmental hygiene problems, the AFCD would refer the case to relevant departments, such as the FEHD, for follow-up in accordance with the Fixed Penalty (Public Cleanliness and Obstruction) Ordinance. However, if the case was related to the first type of situation, the AFCD would communicate with the FEHD to explore ways to improve the management of refuse collection points and make improvements to the buildings themselves. Examples included the installation of door at the refuse collection points to prevent wild pigs from entering, placing water barriers to prevent them from approaching near the litter bins, etc. If the measures were feasible, wild pigs would leave as they would not be able to find food, and the problem would thus be solved. If there was no sign of improvement after appealing to members of the public not to feed wild animals, or if improvement could not be made to the refuse collection facilities due to environmental constraints, the AFCD would consider capturing wild pigs under appropriate and safe circumstances and relocating them in areas that were remote from residential areas.

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62. Regarding the AFCD’s current study on the plan to inject contraceptive vaccine to wild pigs, Mr CHEUNG Ka-shing of the AFCD said that the AFCD had carried out a number of capturing operations in the Southern District. Injection of contraceptive vaccine must be performed under anaesthesia, and after veterinary officers darted a wild pig with anaesthetics, the anaesthetics had to take five to 10 minutes to maximise its efficacy. Thus, such operations could only be carried out on flatland with natural barriers or that could be fenced to prevent wild pigs from fleeing before the anaesthetics took effect. He said that apart from environmental considerations, wild pigs that were highly alert would also make it difficult for the AFCD to arrange for such operations. The AFCD would consider whether there were places in the Central and Western District suitable for implementing this plan.

63. Mr CHEUNG Ka-shing of the AFCD continued that the AFCD was working with the FEHD to commission a consultant to conduct a study, with a view to designing litter bins or refuse collection points that could prevent raids by wild pigs or monkeys, including litter bins not easily opened or toppled over by wild animals. After the new designs were completed, a batch of new litter bins would be produced for trial use at locations where refuse station or refuse collection point was prone to wildlife raids to see whether improvement was needed for the design. He hoped that the final design of the litter bin could be applied territory-wide.

64. Mr LEE Tze-wah , District Environmental Hygiene Superintendent (Central/Western) of the FEHD, said that the AFCD had already pointed out the two types of situations where wild pigs straying in urban areas. For the situation of wild pigs foraging for food at refuse collection points, as no wild pig-proof elements had been incorporated into the design of refuse collection points, it was easy for wild pigs to forage for food there. He said that the FEHD had earlier conducted joint inspections with Members to a number of refuse collection points/facilities with frequent appearance of wild pigs. After the inspections, the FEHD would explore the implementation of short-term measures based on the conditions of the refuse collection points, such as installing fencing around the refuse collection point on Kotewall Road to prevent entry of wild pigs. He said he would follow up with relevant departments in setting up these facilities.

65. For refuse collection points with only a few litter bins inside, Mr LEE of the FEHD said that the FEHD had earlier taken some measures to prevent wild pigs from toppling over litter bins for food. However, it was found that some huge wild pigs could stand up on their hind legs and climb up on the litter bins in search of food. To tackle the above situation, the FEHD was working with relevant departments to explore the installation of retractable fence in front of those refuse collection points. If such measure was feasible, he believed that the problem of wild pigs foraging for food at those refuse collection points could be solved after completion of the relevant works. He opined that in the long run, consideration should be

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given to whether to arrange contraceptive operations for wild pigs or relocate them to a farther location. In addition, Mr LEE said that the AFCD and the FEHD were collaborating on a study on litter bin design. After the experts had completed the study, the new design would be introduced to suitable refuse collection points.

66. Mr YOUNG Chit-on said that the departments concerned had made a rational classification of wild pigs intruding into urban areas into two categories (i.e. wild pigs straying in refuse collection points to forage for food, and human feeding). However, he reckoned that a wild pig straying in the urban area could be due to a combination of these two factors. Remarking that wild pigs would go to places where food was spotted, he considered that the situation of wild pigs foraging in urban areas should be prevented from continuing as soon as possible. He was concerned that the study mentioned by departmental representatives might take a long time to complete the report, design and put on trial. Wild pigs would by then have multiplied in number, rendering the solutions put forward in the report out of tune with the times. Hence, he hoped that the departments concerned could commence work immediately and tackle the problems caused by wild pigs as early as possible.

67. The Vice-chairman said that the item had entered the voting stage. He invited Members to vote on the following motion. The following motion was adopted after voting:

Motion: “In view of the deteriorating problem of wild pigs straying in urban areas which endangers residents and affects district hygiene, the Administration is requested to face up to and proactively handle the problem, such as by improving refuse collection facilities, stepping up education on and enforcement against illegal refuse dumping and feeding of wild animals, and, where necessary, adoption of the “Trap-Neuter-Return” policy.”

(Proposed by Mr YOUNG Chit-on, Jeremy and seconded by Mr YIP Wing-shing)

(13 affirmative votes by: Mr YIP Wing-shing, Mr CHAN Hok-fung, Mr CHAN Choi-hi, Ms CHENG Lai-king, Mr LEE Chi-hang, Sidney (with Mr YEUNG Hok-ming being his authorised representative for voting), Mr YEUNG Hok-ming, Mr CHEUNG Kwok-kwan, Mr HUI Chi-fung (with Mr NG Siu-hong being his authorised representative for voting), Miss LO Yee-hang, Mr NG Siu-hong, Mr YEUNG Hoi-wing, Mr YOUNG Chit-on, Jeremy, Ms NG Hoi-yan, Bonnie)

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(0 dissenting vote)(0 abstention vote)

68. The Vice-chairman thanked the guests for attending the meeting.

Item 9: Combat Bullying in Schools

(C&W DC Paper No. 22/2018)(5:24 pm – 5:42 pm)

69. The Vice-chairman welcomed representatives of the Social Welfare Department (SWD) and the Education Bureau (EDB) to the meeting.

70. Mr CHAN Choi-hi stressed that bullying in schools should not be taken lightly. He said that if children were bullied in schools since an early age, their psychological development would be profoundly affected. He said that one case of bullying in school would be too many, and hoped that the community could pay attention to the issue.

71. The Vice-chairman invited Members to discuss this item.

(a) Mr CHAN Choi-hi said that according to the written response provided by the EDB, the bureau would not tolerate any act of bullying in schools. However, he opined that measures taken by the EDB, including the provision of teaching kits on anti-bullying to schools and signing of anti-bullying charter by students, were mere formalities. He was concerned that the guidelines provided by the EDB might not be applicable in actual situations and would thus fail to solve the root of the problem. He said that based on the information provided by the EDB, the average number of students involved in school bullying cases in the Central and Western District per annum was 2. Though the figure was insignificant, he was concerned that schools might not immediately inform the EDB when dealing with bullying incidents on campus, such that the above figure might not fully reflect the actual situation. He enquired how the EDB would improve the notification mechanism. He continued that an act of bullying involved three parties, including the bully, the victim and the bystanders. He opined that all three parties needed to be educated about this issue. For example, victims should be taught to seek help from parents and school if they were constantly being treated spitefully and unfairly. Besides, Mr CHAN said that the "one school social worker for each school" policy was yet to be implemented in secondary schools. He hoped that the bureau would set up a task force as soon as possible to facilitate joint effort from social workers, parents and representatives from the education sector in handling school bullying incidents

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in the Central and Western District. In addition, he suggested the EDB to study the reasons behind bullying acts and educate bystanders that they also had to bear some responsibility in bullying incidents. Mr CHAN understood that teachers had to follow a busy school curriculum and might not have time to handle work outside the classroom. However, he opined that if teachers encounter bullying incidents, they should accord priority to tackling such cases and resolve matters at an early stage. 

(b) The Vice-chairman said that there were two types of bullying. The first was primary school students’ play with no deliberate attempt to bully. It only involved getting along with fellow students in an inappropriate way, and the victims usually kept silent and did not know how to verbalise their feelings. The Vice-chairman opined that schools should intervene under such circumstances and grasp the whole picture through teachers' observation or checking with their school social workers. The Vice-chairman cited a case in which a student was bullied by the classmate sitting next to him. The victim thus developed negative emotions and refused to go to school. Fortunately, the EDB later offered assistance and arranged a transfer of school for the victim. He said that although a satisfactory outcome was achieved in the above case, he understood that under the EDB’s current mechanism for transfer of school, in case a bullied student wished to transfer to another school, the EDB might not be able to make such arrangement. The case could only be handled through enhanced counselling, which was of doubtful effectiveness. The second type was organised bullying acts by secondary students. The Vice-chairman reckoned that for bullying of this kind, teachers had to judge the severity of the bullying acts and assess whether police intervention was necessary. However, he agreed that given the already heavy workload of teachers in handling syllabuses, student homework and extra-curricular activities, etc., requesting teachers to provide psychological counselling for students might add to their burden. Hence, he suggested the SWD to strengthen support from school social workers to schools, so as to alleviate teachers’ work pressure and provide professional counselling services for students in need. He supplemented that for the case he mentioned earlier, the support provided by social worker had brought psychological relief to the family concerned. He hoped that the issue of bullying in schools could be tackled through the joint efforts of family, school and the community.

(c) The Chairman said that for bullying in schools, some were meant to be fun provoking, some were just ways of interaction that were not acceptable to fellow students, whereas some were serious bullying behaviours. Apart from support to students by the SWD and school, he suggested that parents’ talks should be

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organised, with a view to teaching parents how to assess whether their children were subject to bullying by paying attention to their daily behaviours, and encouraging parents to have more communication with their children and help them solve the problems they encountered in school. If the case was considered serious, parents might also contact school to facilitate early intervention by school and social worker and joint efforts in tackling the problem by taking appropriate measures.

(d) Ms CHENG Lai-king said that the recent cases of child abuse reflected the need for the SWD to provide at least one school social worker for each kindergarten, primary school and secondary school as soon as possible. She remarked that the Secretary for Labour and Welfare once mentioned that each social worker was required to provide counselling services for 600 students. She considered that the social worker to student ratio had reflected a serious manpower shortage of social workers, as each social worker, in addition to providing services to students in need, might also need to provide counselling for the students’ families. As such, their scope of services was not confined to students only. In view of this, she opined that the department should expeditiously implement the "one school social worker for each school" policy and improve the social worker to student ratio. She said that this could enable social worker to be more effective and helpful to each student in the school, allowing all students to grow in a healthy environment.

72. In response to Members’ comments, Mr LAM Ding-fung, District Social Welfare Officer (Central Western, Southern & Islands) of the SWD, said that the SWD had implemented the policy of "1.2 school social workers for each school" in all secondary schools in the territory years ago, though he agreed that there was still a large difference in the ratio between school social workers and students. Mr LAM continued that in early days school social workers had to handle student counselling work on campus alone. Until about 10-odd years ago, the department merged most of the school social workers with the social worker teams of the Integrated Children and Youth Services Centres (ICYSCs). Hence, when a school social worker was in need of assistance, manpower could be deployed from the ICYSCs’ teams to provide on-site support, such that school social workers were provided with greater flexibility in secondment arrangements for providing students with appropriate services. Mr LAM said that given the community’s pressing need for elderly services, especially in the face of an aging population, the department would maintain the present level of resources used in youth services as far as possible. However, he believed that it would be difficult to allocate substantial additional resources to this area in the short term. In addition, Mr LAM indicated that the department had checked with school social workers and day and night out-reaching social workers about the current situation of bullying in schools. It was learned that at present bullying in schools was not serious in the Central and Western District,

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with only one or two individual cases. He said that the department had all along maintained close contact with the Federation of Parent-Teacher Association (FPTA) and the Association of School Heads, and believed that the relevant organisations would promptly inform the department if any serious bullying incident had occurred. If the situation worsened, the department would be happy to collaborate with the EDB, the Police, the Association of School Heads and the FPTA to address the problem of bullying in schools.

73. Ms TONG Lai-fong, Chief School Development Officer (Central, Western and Southern) of the EDB, thanked Members for their views. She said that the EDB always attached great importance to incidents of bullying in schools. In this connection, circulars had been issued on the matter and a series of teaching kits and parent pamphlets on anti-bullying on campus had been produced. She indicated that starting from 2011-12, the EDB had launched the Harmonious School – Anti-bullying Campaign. At present, 500 schools had participated in the campaign. Ms TONG said that the bureau advised schools to adopt a whole school approach in formulating and implementing anti-bullying strategies, including clear stance on zero tolerance, proper reporting mechanism and handling procedures, highly transparent monitoring, as well as proactive and serious attitude in handling each bullying incident. Schools might visit the EDB’s website (www.edb.gov.hk) for the teaching kits and Procedures for Handling Bullying Incidents. Besides, the EDB supported and monitored the guidance and discipline work at school, including anti-bullying measures, by providing professional advice, conducting school visits and organising training and exchange visits every year, etc. Ms TONG hoped that school, parents and students would have a good understanding of bullying and grasp the definition of bullying, so as to reinforce their alertness and handling skills. In addition, she said that if bullying incident took place in school, the bullied one was not the only victim, it would also have profound impact on the bully, the bystanders, and the school’s caring culture. Ms TONG said that in addition to providing support to schools, the EDB also hoped to enhance the effectiveness of anti-bullying through home-school cooperation. In this connection, the EDB issued a parent pamphlet on “Help Your Child Develop a Harmonious Relationship in School” to all parents, with a view to promoting parents’ understanding of the definition of bullying and teaching them how to observe their children’s words and behaviours, as well as providing them with a series of methods to prevent their children from being bullied or bullying others. On student guidance and discipline, the EDB encouraged students to exercise self-discipline and pay attention to their conduct even though no punishment would be imposed on them, so as to cultivate positive values and attitudes. Ms TONG added that during the five-year period of the Harmonious School – Anti-bullying Campaign, the number of bullying cases in Hong Kong, including the Central and Western District, had been declining. The number dropped from 260 cases in the 2011/12 school year to 120 cases in the 2016/17 school year. This showed that with the collaborative efforts of all parties concerned, encouraging results had been attained in the anti-bullying campaign. Lastly, Ms TONG reiterated that the EDB would

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uphold a zero-tolerance attitude towards bullying.

74. The Vice-chairman closed the discussion on this item.

Item 10: Strongly Request the Government to Improve the 1823 Service(C&W DC Paper No. 23/2018)

(5:42 pm – 5:57 pm)

75. The Vice-chairman welcomed representatives of the Chief Secretary for Administration's Office and the Water Supplies Department (WSD) to the meeting, and invited discussion on the paper.

(a) Mr YEUNG Hok-ming said that he was a frequent user of the Government's 1823 hotline service and smartphone application (app). He reckoned that the aforesaid app was well received by the public. In addition to enabling citizens to show the location of cases they reported through its positioning system, the app also allowed them to upload photos. Afterwards, 1823 would give a clear reply to the enquiry or inform the citizen concerned about the government department and officer to which the complaint had been referred for follow-up; the officer concerned would also give a reply to the citizen upon compleion of the case. He said that this one-stop service had brought great convenience to the public, as members of the public or district councillors had to make enquiry to different government departments one by one in the past. However, he remarked that the WSD and the Drainage Services Department (DSD) were still not covered by 1823. He understood that there might be several calls calling at the same time when a water main burst incident occurred, but believed that the Efficiency Unit would be capable of handling such situation with its level of technology. Hence, he opined that if the WSD's services could be covered by 1823, members of the public would be able to contact more government departments by calling 1823. He indicated that at present, members of the public calling 1823 to report pipe burst incidents would be told to call the WSD’s hotline or DSD hotline direct, which was very inconvenient. Also, as the WSD did not have an app for receiving complaints from the public, the 1823 app could offer more convenience in comparison. Mr YEUNG said though he did not understand the technology issues involved, he did hope that 1823’s services could keep pace with the times and suit the daily needs of the modern community by including the WSD’s hotline and the Drainage Hotline into its service scope.

(b) The Vice-chairman opined that while the Government of the Hong Kong Special

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Administrative Region had kept promoting the smart city concept to provide greater convenience to the public, the reality was that intelligentisation had failed to materialise in even the most basic services. People had to memorise various phone numbers before they could make enquiries to different government departments. He emphasised that 1823 was an outstanding service. If all government departments could be covered by 1823, then members of the public would only need to remember one phone number (i.e. "1823") in order to make enquiries to all government departments, which would be very convenient. The Vice-chairman opined that the need to call different government departments under different circumstances was not in line with the “smart city” concept. Remarking that the 1823 service had covered many government departments at present, he believed that there should not be much technical difficulty to cover all government departments. He hoped that all those departments with high service level, such as the WSD, could be covered to offer more convenience to the community. The Vice-chairman acknowledged the quality services of 1823, remarking that not only the hotline, but the app was also very convenient as it enabled citizens to show the location of cases they reported through its positioning system and upload photos, which was highly efficient. He reckoned that it would be of great benefit if the said services could be extended to cover all government departments. He very much hoped that the Government could integrate these most basic services for enquiry/receipt of complaints to ease the burden of the public.

(c) Mr CHAN Choi-hi agreed that all government departments should be covered by 1823 as soon as possible, and enquired whether regionalisation of services was feasible if the service volume of 1823 was too large. He suggested that the services could be divided according to the five geographical constituencies of the LegCo. He said that in case there was too much information on the district level while 1823 had sufficient resources, apart from increasing manpower, consideration might also be given to regionalising the services to expedite the handling of problems.

76. Mr LAM Kwok-wai , Principal Management Services Officer (Efficiency Unit) 3 of the Chief Secretary for Administration's Office, began by expressing thanks to Members for their support for the 1823 service. He explained that 1823 was set up to assist in answering enquires regarding participating departments and receive complaints on water main burst, pipe burst, etc. In 2017, 1823 received a total of 5 780 complaints in respect of the WSD, where 1 083 cases were related to water main burst incidents. All those complaint cases had been referred to the WSD for follow-up. He stressed that 1823 would receive all complaints regarding government bureaux and departments and referred them to the bureaux or departments concerned for follow-up. Besides, he said that the DSD was also a participating

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department of 1823 and 1823 would handle all enquiries and complaints regarding the DSD. In response to Mr CHAN Choi-hi’s suggestion on regionalision, Mr LAM said that at present in handling all enquiries and complaints, if the member of the public could provide the location involved, 1823 would conduct analysis by district and referred the case to the department concerned according to its division of work. If the division of work within the department concerned was by geographic areas, 1823 would also refer the case to the department according to geographic areas.

77. Mr LAU Wai-leung , Senior Engineer/Hong Kong (2) (Acting) of the WSD, said that the WSD had discussed with the Efficiency Unit about including its hotline into 1823’s services and would continue to discuss and follow up this matter. On some Members’ suggestion of enhancing the functions of 1823, Mr LAU said that the WSD was discussing with 1823 on the immediate referral by email of public complaints and enquiries to the WSD for follow-up, such as by integrating several computer servers into a large system with a view to providing more efficient service. He also indicated that the WSD had a hotline enquiry centre in place to serve the public. It was currently in discussion with 1823 on how to strengthen information exchange to ensure that whenever 1823 received calls from members of the public reporting water main burst incidents, the WSD could immediately receive such report and deploy staff to carry out emergency repair work. The department believed that the said approach would be simpler than increasing manpower of 1823 and could enhance service quality within a short time.

78. Mr YEUNG Hok-ming wondered why the WSD mentioned the idea of upgrading computer systems as an alternative to increasing manpower of 1823. He said that his suggestion was to strengthen 1823’s services in order to reduce the number of staff handling the WSD’s hotline. He opined that the WSD’s hotline had overlapped with 1823’s services. Upon enhancement of 1823’s services, the number of staff handling the WSD’s hotline could be reduced, which would also save public money. Mr YEUNG said that he had enquired with the WSD earlier whether inclusion of the WSD into 1823’s services was possible. His understanding at that time was that in case a water main burst incident occurred, 1823 might be overloaded due to a surge in usage. However, he reckoned that 1823 had encountered numerous unexpected incidents over the years, and even if hotline agents were unable to answer the calls immediately, a voice mail facility was available.  Members of the public could choose to continue waiting for their calls to be answered, or leave their phone number or message; whereas the WSD’s hotline did not provide such service. Furthermore, the 1823 app could process tremendous amount of information simultaneously. He thus asked why not assign the WSD's hotline service to 1823 for handling, for it could achieve manpower savings for the WSD or the hotline agents could be deployed to other posts for better resource allocation. Also, the public could simply remember "1823" to solve relevant problems and needed not memorise the WSD’s hotline number. Mr YEUNG considered that the above

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suggestion could provide greater convenience to the public and hoped that the departments concerned could take it into consideration.

79. Mr LAM Kwok-wai of the Chief Secretary for Administration's Office said that the Efficiency Unit had actively followed up the issue with the WSD, with a view to providing a service that offered the greatest convenience to the public, enabling the public to make enquiries or lodge complaints easily. He stressed that the Efficiency Unit would continue to discuss with departments which were interested to use 1823's services on the related matters.

80. Mr LAU Wai-leung of the WSD responded that the WSD had open-minded attitude to the suggestion for replacing the WSD’s hotline by 1823 and would continue to discuss with the Efficiency Unit. He clarified that the computer system he mentioned just now was intended to provide functions similar to that expected by Members in a simpler way, such that members of the public only had to call 1823 and their enquiries or complaints would be referred to the departments concerned for immediate processing.

81. The Vice-chairman said that the item had entered the voting stage. He asked the Secretary to read out the letters of authorisation. The following motion was adopted after voting:

Motion: “The Central and Western District Council urges the Government to improve the 1823 service, seek participation from more government departments in 1823’s services and extend the areas of public enquiries and complaints handled by it, in order to provide the public with a simple and straight forward, easy and convenient channel for enquiries and complaints on government services.”

(Proposed by Mr CHAN Hok-fung and seconded by Mr YEUNG Hoi-wing)

(15 affirmative votes by: Mr YIP Wing-shing (with Mr CHAN Hok-fung being his authorised representative for voting), Mr CHAN Hok-fung, Mr CHAN Chit-kwai, Stephen, Mr CHAN Choi-hi, Mr KAM Nai-wai, Ms CHENG Lai-king, Mr LEE Chi-hang, Sidney (with Mr YEUNG Hok-ming being his authorised representative for voting), Mr YEUNG Hok-ming, Mr CHEUNG Kwok-kwan, Mr HUI Chi-fung (with Mr NG Siu-hong being his authorised representative for voting), Miss LO Yee-hang, Mr NG Siu-hong, Mr YEUNG Hoi-wing, Mr YOUNG Chit-on, Jeremy (with

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Mr YEUNG Hok-ming being his authorised representative for voting), Ms NG Hoi-yan, Bonnie)

(0 dissenting vote)

(0 abstention vote)

Item 11: Members’ Written Reports(5:57 pm)

82. The Chairman reported on behalf of the District Fight Crime Committee (Central and Western District) (DFCC) that the DFCC held its fourth meeting for 2017-18 on 26 January 2018 (Friday). The date of the next meeting was to be confirmed.

83. Members had nothing to add.

Item 12: Work Reports of the Committees under C&WDC(5:57 pm – 5:58 pm)

84. The Chairman referred Members to the following papers.

(a) Culture, Leisure & Social Affairs Committee(C&W DC Paper No. 25/2018)

(b) District Facilities Management Committee(C&W DC Paper No. 26/2018)

(c) Finance Committee(C&W DC Paper No. 27/2018)

(d) Food, Environment, Hygiene & Works Committee(C&W DC Paper No. 28/2018)

(e) Traffic & Transport Committee(C&W DC Paper No. 29/2018 and 33/2018)

Item 13: Reports of the Working Groups under C&WDC (2017-18)

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(5:58 pm – 5:59 pm)

85. The Chairman referred Members to the paper. The chairmen of the working groups had nothing to add.

Item 14: Report on the 207th Meeting of the Central & Western District Management Committee(C&W DC Paper No. 30/2018)

(5:59 pm)

86. The Chairman referred Members to the paper.

Item 15: Reports on the Meetings of the Area Committees of the Central & Western District(C&W DC Paper No. 31/2018)

(5:59 pm)

87. The Chairman referred Members to the paper.

Item 16: Any Other Business(5:59 pm – 6:00 pm)

88. There was no other business.

Item 17: Date of the Next Meeting

89. The Chairman announced that the fourteenth meeting would be held on 10 May 2018. The paper submission deadline for government departments would be 18 April 2018, while that for Members would be 24 April 2018.

The minutes were confirmed on 10 May 2018

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Chairman: Mr YIP Wing-shing

Secretary: Ms YEUNG Wing-shan, Grace

Central and Western District Council SecretariatMay 2018

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