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Written by: Golden Chess
2019-12-12 12:20
Last updated: 2019-12-12 12:24The Leisure and Cultural Services Department operates a total of close to 1,800 public playgrounds, including parks and beaches. The Office of The Ombudsman confirmed today (12th) that LCSD had not completed the procedures for storing plans in the Land Registry at 583 venues, which failed to enforce the law, including the fixed penalty for smoking and the control of trafficking.
The PCPD released an active investigation report today, criticizing the LCSD for failing to formulate clear guidelines for the storage of plans for public playgrounds before this omission was found. Proper communication and collaboration.
The Office also found that although the LCSD had reviewed the arrangements and revised the guidelines after replacing all the plans for storage, there may still be opportunities for plans not to be stored in the early stages of the opening of public playgrounds.
The Ombudsman's Office criticized the LCSD for failing to develop clear guidelines for storing plans for public playgrounds in advance, and for lack of proper communication and collaboration with the Lands Department. (Profile picture)
The Office of the Ombudsman reports that the English version of the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance does not specify that plans for public playgrounds must be deposited in the Land Registry, while the Chinese version specifies that plans showing the boundaries of the venue must be deposited in the Land Note Office . The LCSD explained that the Department has always acted in accordance with the English text. Therefore, there is no strict requirement on whether plans for public playgrounds must be stored in the land injection office.
LCSD has not guided each district office to act independently
However, the Office's investigation found that more than half of the public playgrounds have completed the plan storage process. They consider that the LCSD has not noticed or cared about the inconsistencies in the storage of plans at various venues for many years. The requirements for maps of public playgrounds set out clear requirements or work guidelines, so that the District Leisure Services Offices act independently.
The Office also criticized that the LCSD had not previously set up a central database to record, co-ordinate and manage the information stored in maps of public playgrounds, and the department's headquarters did not keep relevant records. When the procedures for storing plans in the Land Registry are completed, the plans are only archived by the District Leisure Services Office, and there is no need to report the progress of the work to the headquarters. It can be seen that the LCSD has never monitored the storage of plans.
Earlier, the LCSD was revealed that 583 venues had not completed the storage of plans in the Land Registry and failed to enforce the law. (Profile picture)
The process of preparing and storing plans takes a long time. New playgrounds or a one-year law enforcement "vacuum period"
The Office also pointed out that between the LCSD and the Lands Department's regional offices and even the headquarters, there was no regular communication mechanism or regular review on the progress or process of related work, which failed to effectively monitor the progress of storing plans. . In addition, the investigation report also stated that the process of preparing and storing plans generally takes about six months to one year, and the newly opened public playgrounds may have law enforcement "vacuum periods" of up to one year or even longer.
Although LCSD has proposed improvement measures afterwards, including updating internal guidelines on the opening of public playgrounds. However, the Office pointed out that the updated guidelines did not contain clear instructions and specific measures to ensure that when the relevant venues are opened or formally taken over from other departments and become public playgrounds as defined in the Ordinance, the plans have been deposited in Earth note.
The procedures for depositing relevant plans in the Land Registry have not yet been completed in some parts of Lai Chi Kok Park. (Profile picture)
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The Office advises LCSD to formulate clear guidelines instructing staff to prepare plans for public playgrounds, and to store plans at the land injection site as required by law; it is also necessary to strictly require district recreation offices to report plans to headquarters regularly Storage progress to prevent omissions. In addition, the LCSD should review the existing procedures and arrangements for gazette and commissioning of public playgrounds, and formulate effective and feasible measures to prevent the "vacuum period" of law enforcement.
Office of the Ombudsman, Leisure and Cultural Services Department
