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Following is a question by the Hon Daniel Lam and a written reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Dr Patrick Ho, in the Legislative Council today (November 30):
Question:
Many residents in the New Territories have reflected to me that it is extremely difficult for them to get the Government to install street lamps, and they often fail to achieve any fruitful outcome after waiting for four to five years. The lack of street lamps has caused inconvenience to their daily life and aroused safety concerns. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of applications received for the installation of street lamps in areas in the New Territories other than new towns in each of the past three years, and the respective numbers of such applications accepted and rejected;
(b) of the amount of expenditure spent on the installation of street lamps, as well as the respective numbers of installation works completed and expected to be completed this year and in each of the past three years, and the average cost of each item of works completed;
(c) of the respective percentages of street lamp installation works completed after waiting for not more than one year, two years or three years in the total number of such works completed in each of the past three years; as well as the reasons for the difference in the waiting time;
(d) of the percentage of approved applications in which the street lamp installation works is still outstanding after a lapse of over four years in the total number of applications received so far, and the reasons for not yet carrying out such installation works; and
(e) whether it will consider implementing measures to shorten the waiting time of applications for the installation of street lamps?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) The number of village lights applied for and the number accepted over the past three years are as follows:
Year No. applied No. accepted
-------- ----------- ---------------
2002-03 3 237 2 257
2003-04 1 914 1 087
2004-05 2 132 527
The number of village lights accepted depends on a number of factors including availability of resources and site condition. Moreover, as usually not all village lights being applied for can be accepted within the year of their submission, the number of lights applied for in a particular year, therefore, includes those that are not accepted in the preceding year.
(b) The amount of expenditure spent on the installation of village lights, the respective numbers of lights installed and expected to be installed this year and in each of the past three years by the Highways Department are as follows:
Expenditure
(based on the
no. expected
to be installed)
No. expected
Year to be installed No. installed ($ million)
------- --------------- -------------- ------------
2002-03 2 257 2 231 23.6
2003-04 1 087 1 041 13.6
2004-05 527 237 5.5
2005-06 574 0 5.6
As installation of village lights may involve technical problems or the need to take into account local views, a number of lights accepted earlier have yet to be installed.
According to the statistics on completed items, the average cost of installing a village light is about $12,000.
(c) According to the Government's records, in the past three years, the percentages of cases in which the Highways Department commenced the installation works one year, two years and three years after the applications were received were 3%, 14% and 29% respectively.
Every year, the Government determines the order of priority for installation of village lights according to established criteria. Under normal circumstances, the Government gives priority to applications which will benefit the largest number of households. Moreover, the Government will take into full consideration such factors as public safety, pedestrian flow, existing lighting facilities, availability of land, electricity supply and technical problems. Waiting times for applications which are relatively less urgent may be longer.
(d) The Government's records show that as of now there are 31 village lights yet to be installed, the application of which have been received for more than four years, which represent about 1% of the number of lights applied for in hand. This is mainly because there are already other lighting facilities near the proposed locations for installation or only a small number of residents will benefit from it. According to current criteria, these applications will not be given priority.
(e) The Government will examine carefully the applications for the installation of lights in the New Territories other than new towns. If necessary and resources permitting, the Government will adjust the annual number of lights to be installed in the districts concerned and minimise the waiting times for applications with justified needs.
Ends/Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Issued at HKT 15:58
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