The Wan Chai District Council held a meeting on Tuesday (16th) to discuss the redevelopment of the stadium. However, the representative of the Environmental Assessment Consulting Company revealed under the questioning of the district councilors that the relevant data was taken from a weekday morning and evening in mid-2019 at Causeway Bay 10. The data collected at many major intersections, criticized by the deputy chairman of the District Council, Lin Wei-wen, are out of date, and they do not cover holidays and are not comprehensive enough.
Later, Li Biyi, another district councillor, refused to use the words ""report" the contents of the plan" in relevant documents as required by the Civil Affairs Bureau.
After the wave of resignation of district councilors and the disqualification (DQ) of invalid oaths, the role of district councils seems to have fallen into the offensive.
From the fact that the stadium redevelopment proposal was submitted to the Wan Chai District Council for deliberation, it can be seen that the government departments have not only failed to scrutinize the assessment report, but also neglected that the District Council actually has the responsibility of oversight.
According to the aerial photography, a glass curtain top and a glass fence were erected in the gap of the Bishop Mountain Service Reservoir, and a large artificial turf was laid on the ground, which was quite different from the situation when it was first exposed.
(Photo by Huang Weimin)
The department ignores the importance of communication
One of the important functions of the district council is to represent the residents of the district and reflect their opinions to government departments.
In addition, district board members can also urge government departments to improve administrative efficiency in district affairs.
If the district councils are gradually ignored, or government departments are less and less accountable or reporting on the work of the district, the function of supervising the administration will naturally become invalid.
Take the Bishop's Hill Service Reservoir as an example. The Sham Shui Po District Council set up a working group to follow up on conservation.
The aerial photography of "Hong Kong 01" on Wednesday (17th) revealed that the gap of the service reservoir has been constructed with a glass curtain top and fence, and a staircase has been built to connect the interior, and a large artificial turf has been laid on the ground.
However, some district councilors pointed out that the Water Supplies Department did not report the latest progress of the project at a meeting, and they did not even know that artificial turf had been laid and the glass curtain had been erected there.
Looking through the meeting documents of the group, I also saw that the Water Supplies Department had provided supplementary information in March this year.
Of course, the administrative department does not need to report everything to the district board. However, if the district affairs concerned by the public can be regularly accounted for so that the district board can follow up and understand it, I believe it will also help improve administrative performance.
The Commissioner for Civil Affairs of the Central and Western District, Leung Ziqi, has left the meeting many times.
(Photo by Peng Zhuowei)
The relationship between government departments and district councils needs to be improved
It is true that the current district councils have emerged under a storm of anti-amendment laws, and most of the elected district councillors are members of the pan-democratic faction. There has always been tension between district councilors and government departments.
The community has even stated that it will explore the comprehensive reform of district councils to depoliticize them and focus on regional affairs.
But no matter what, under the current system, the district council is still an important district consulting organization, and after the oath, the incumbent district councillors should meet the criteria for public office, so the district council is worthy of our good use.
If the poor relationship between government departments and district board members makes it difficult for people's livelihood issues to be fully reflected and followed up, the public will only suffer.
The relationship between the two needs to be repaired, and the administrative department should also make good use of the district council as a bridge between officials and the people to deal with district government affairs in a pragmatic manner and always take into consideration the welfare of the whole district.
The squatter crisis lasts forever. District functions need to be fulfilled. Get out of the quagmire of political disputes and give full play to the functions of district councillors. The appointment system does not help bring about high-quality district councils.
