(Translation) Minutes of the 1 Meeting of the Environment and Hygiene
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(Translation) Minutes of the 1st Meeting of the Environment and Hygiene Committee under Sham Shui Po District Council (5th Term) Date: 19 January 2016 (Tuesday) Time: 4:24 p.m. Venue: Conference Room, Sham Shui Po District Council Present Chairman Ms LAU Pui-yuk Members Mr CHAN Kwok-wai Mr CHAN Wai-ming, MH Ms CHAN Wing-yan, Joephy Mr CHENG Wing-shun, Vincent Mr CHEUNG Wing-sum, Ambrose, MH, JP Ms CHOW Wing-heng, Zoé Mr CHUM Tak-shing Mr HO Kai-ming, Kalvin Mr LAM Ka-fai, Aaron, JP Mr KONG Kwai-sang Mr LEE Tsz-king, Dominic Mr LEE Wing-man Mr LEUNG Man-kwong Mr LEUNG Yau-fong Ms NG Mei, Carman Ms NG Yuet-lan Mr TAM Kwok-kiu, MH, JP Mr WAI Woon-nam Mr WONG Tat-tung, Dennis, MH, JP Mr YAN Kai-wing Mr YEUNG Yuk Mr YUEN Hoi-man - 2 - Action by In Attendance Mr MOK Kwan-yu, Benjamin, JP District Officer (Sham Shui Po) Miss CHAN Pui-ki, Kiki Assistant District Officer (Sham Shui Po) 1 Mr WAI Chun-yin, Mickey Assistant District Officer (Sham Shui Po) 2 Ms CHEUNG Ching, Jenny Senior Executive Officer (District Council), Sham Shui Po District Office Mr LAI Kah-kit District Environmental Hygiene Superintendant (Sham Shui Po), Food and Environmental Hygiene Department Mr LI Kam-hung, Joe Principal Estate Officer/Kowloon West (North) (District Lands Office, Kowloon West), Lands Department Ms YIP Yuk-ying Neighbourhood Police Co-ordinator/Police Community Relations Office of Sham Shui Po District, Hong Kong Police Force Mr LAM Wing-yiu Senior Environmental Protection Officer (Regional West) 5, Environmental Protection Department Secretary Miss CHEUNG Ching-yee, Jennifer Executive Officer (District Council) 1, Sham Shui Po District Office - 3 - Action by Opening Remarks Mr Ambrose CHEUNG welcomed Members to the first meeting of the Environment and Hygiene Committee (“EHC”). He remarked that he would preside at the meeting until the Chairman of EHC was elected; following which he would turn the meeting over to the newly elected Chairman for the remaining agenda items. Agenda Item 1: Election of Chairman of the Committee 2. Mr Ambrose CHEUNG asked the Secretary to announce the nominations received at the close of the nomination period. 3. The Secretary said that the Secretariat received a nomination form for the office of EHC Chairman before 8:30 a.m. this morning. The candidate was Ms LAU Pui-yuk, whose nomination was made by Mr LEUNG Man-kwong and seconded by Mr CHAN Kwok-wai and Mr CHAN Wai-ming. Besides, the Secretariat received another nomination form for the office of EHC Chairman after 8:30 a.m. this morning. The candidate was Mr WAI Woon-nam, whose nomination was made by Mr CHUM Tak-shing and seconded by Mr Kalvin HO and Mr YEUNG Yuk. 4. Mr Ambrose CHEUNG remarked that only one received nomination was valid and he therefore declared that Ms LAU Pui-yuk was elected as EHC Chairman of the Sham Shui Po District Council (“SSPDC”). 5. Mr LEUNG Yau-fong opposed the rulings of Mr Ambrose CHEUNG and disagreed that there was only one valid nomination. 6. Mr WAI Woon-nam raised the following views: (i) his nomination was sent to the Secretariat at 9:15 a.m. this morning, i.e. about 7 hours before the actual start time of the meeting, or 1 hour and 45 minutes before the scheduled start time of the meeting. He expressed his regret on the rulings handed down by Mr Ambrose CHEUNG of not accepting his nomination; (ii) besides, in respect of the election of DC Chairman and Vice-chairman held on 5 January, the District Officer had not yet released relevant documents regarding the opinions of the Department of Justice. Therefore, he questioned the election procedure of that day as well as the capacity of DC Chairman and Vice-chairman. 7. Mr Ambrose CHEUNG noted Members’ views. 8. Mr LEUNG Yau-fong asked for an adjournment of 5 minutes. - 4 - Action by 9. Mr Ambrose CHEUNG declared that the meeting would be adjourned for 5 minutes. (The meeting was adjourned for 5 minutes.) 10. Mr Ambrose CHEUNG declared the resumption of the meeting and announced that a provisional motion was received. The motion, moved by Mr LEUNG Yau-fong and seconded by Ms Carman NG, was as follows: “Object to SSPDC Secretariat’s submission on 11 January regarding the guidelines for the election of Chairmen and Vice-chairmen, which was in contravention of the District Councils Ordinance (“DCO”). Request to elect Chairmen of the Committees and their Working Groups in accordance with DCO (Cap. 547) and following the procedure stipulated in Schedule 5 (nominations may be given at any time before the person presiding at the meeting calls for the closing of nominations.)” 11. Mr LEUNG Yau-fong raised the following views: (i) in order to express his objection to Mr Ambrose CHEUNG’s decision by action, he decided to move a motion as he did at previously held committees’ meetings; (ii) the decision was unreasonable and against the electoral procedure. It was based on one’s own interpretation of the electoral procedure. He could not sway the election result but reckoned that all individuals should be allowed to participate in the election in a fair, just and open manner; (iii) he urged Members, regardless of their political affiliations, to take this opportunity to show their stance if they agreed to his views. 12. Mr Ambrose CHEUNG suggested that the provisional motion, moved by Mr LEUNG Yau-fong, be voted on by open ballot. Members had no objection. 13. The voting result was as follows: For: Ms Zoé CHOW, Mr CHUM Tak-shing, Mr KONG Kwai-sang, Mr LEUNG Yau-fong, Ms Carman NG, Ms NG Yuet-lan, Mr TAM Kwok-kiu, Mr WAI Woon-nam, Mr YEUNG Yuk, Mr YUEN Hoi-man (10) Against: Mr CHAN Kwok-wai, Mr CHAN Wai-ming, Ms Joephy CHAN, Mr Vincent CHENG, Mr Ambrose CHEUNG, Mr Aaron LAM, Ms LAU Pui-yuk, Mr Dominic LEE, Mr LEE Wing-man, Mr LEUNG Man-kwong, Mr Dennis WONG, Mr YAN Kai-wing - 5 - Action by (12) Abstain: (0) 14. The Secretary announced the voting result: 10 Members voted for the motion, 12 Members voted against it and no Member abstained. Mr Ambrose CHEUNG announced that the provisional motion was not passed. (The meeting was chaired by Ms LAU Pui-yuk as EHC Chairman.) Agenda Item 2: Endorsement of the structure and terms of reference of the Working Groups under the Committee (EHC Paper 1/12) 15. The Chairman said that environment and hygiene issues in Sham Shui Po (“SSP”) District had all along been the concerns. She hoped that the Committee would join hands to improve the environmental hygiene in the district. 16. The Chairman said that with reference to the structure of the fourth term SSPDC, three working groups were set up under EHC, i.e. the Working Group on Markets, Street Traders and Food Safety (“WGMST”), the Working Group on Environmental Protection (“WGEP”) and the Non-Standing Working Group on Wild Bird and Poultry Market Problems (“WGWB”). Their structures and terms of reference were at Annexes 1 and 2 of EHC Paper 1/16. Members were requested to consider and approve the structures and terms of reference of the above Working Groups on the basis of the structure of the fourth term SSPDC, their past experience and future responsibilities of the Committee. 17. Mr CHAN Wai-ming raised the following views and suggestions: (i) WGMST and WGEP had all along been promoting various activities in the district and achieving the goals set upon their establishment; (ii) as a non-standing working group, WGWB only conducted site visits to the Cheung Sha Wan Temporary Wholesale Poultry Market every year in the past District Council (“DC”) term. Since Members were concerned about the wild bird issue and the Committee had, from time to time, discussed and followed up the wild bird and avian influenza issues, he suggested that the discussion be escalated to the committee level from the working group level and WGWB be abolished until further discussion if necessary. 18. Mr CHUM Tak-shing raised the following views and suggestions: (i) he disagreed to some of the views of Mr CHAN Wai-ming. He opined that the wild bird issue remained unsolved, and the Chairman of the Working Group concerned of the new term may lead the Working Group to perform better. In case of an epidemic outbreak, the Working Group if - 6 - Action by retained might convene meetings and take follow-up action more flexibly. Therefore, he did not support the abolition of WGWB; (ii) he suggested that the wordings “hawker stalls” be added to the name of WGMST or its term of reference because there were a lot of “hawker stalls” in SSP District. Besides, environmental hygiene and license renewal issues thus involved had been discussed at DC meetings. Therefore, he suggested that hawker stalls be included in the discussion under the Working Group in order to tackle the issue in respect of the operation of hawker stalls. 19. Mr Vincent CHENG raised the following views: (i) he agreed to Mr CHAN Wai-ming’s views that WGWB’s work in the past was not effective and could not help improve the wild bird issue in the district; (ii) WGWB failed to perform its functions and one of the reasons was the comparatively low level of the Working Group. Since the wild bird issue was getting worse, he suggested that the issue be escalated to the committee level for discussion and regular reports be made for follow-up purpose.