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市政局：由潔淨局到兩個市政局，再到廢除

The Urban Council: from the Sanitary Board to two councils, and abolition

市政局係點樣由一個負責掃街同檢疫嘅機構，變成有直選議席嘅議會，最後又喺 1999 年被廢除？

市政局有一段少見嘅歷史：佢唔係由主權問題開始，而係由衞生問題開始；佢嘅權力唔係來自憲制，而係來自一項一項日常服務。呢篇講嘅係制度，唔係街道史。

約 4 分鐘 · 8 節 · 32 條時間線 · 2 份文獻

繁體中文

一、潔淨局：市政衞生先於市政政治

市政局嘅源頭唔係議會，而係衞生。1883 年 4 月 21 日，香港政府公佈設立潔淨局，專責監督同管理本地市政衞生事宜。當時最逼切嘅問題係排水、垃圾同疾病；一個專責機構，比一個代議機構更急。

1935 年，港府制定市政局條例，潔淨局改名為市政局，並於次年 1 月 1 日正式成立。改名唔只係換招牌：由「潔淨」到「市政」，職能由清理街道擴展到管理一座城市嘅日常服務。

二、1946 與 1952：先開會，後選舉

二戰結束後，市政局於 1946 年 5 月 28 日召開第一次會議，當時局內未有由選舉產生嘅議席。1952 年 5 月 30 日，市政局舉行戰後第一次選舉，九名候選人爭兩個非官守議員席位，雷瑞德同貝納祺勝出。

同年，英國殖民地部大臣列堤頓在下議院講明：香港不宜推行全面政制改革，只會針對市政局作小幅度改動。1953 年 5 月 1 日，潔淨署改稱市政事務署，負責環境衞生、徙置區同公園管理。分工由此成形——議員議事，部門執行。

三、1956：二十二個人嘅議會

1956 年 1 月 27 日，港府改組市政局：非官守議員增設六席、任期四年，另新設四席民選議員；改組後由六名官守、八名委任非官守同八名民選組成，合共 22 人。

同年 3 月 7 日，改制後第一次民選投票，革新會取四席、香港公民協會取兩席；鍾愛理遜當選，成為香港歷來第一位女性議員。1964 年 3 月 25 日，李曹秀群獲委任為市政局議員，成為首位出任該局議員嘅華人女性。

四、1966–1969：把「選民」重新定義

1966 年 5 月 6 日，港府修例取消選民須諳英語嘅要求，並按社會貢獻、專業資格同教育程度增設選民類別，同時訂明居港不少於三年。選民基礎一放寬，市政局就成為少數可以用選票問責嘅場地。

同年 10 月 4 日，市政局公布特設委員會報告書，倡設香港市議會並賦予更大職權，獲 16 名非官守議員贊成通過。1969 年 3 月 4 日，局轄下地方政制委員會提出報告：管轄區域按階段擴展、民選比例循序遞增、並要求不受港府支配嘅財政自主權。呢三項要求，日後成為市政局同政府拉扯嘅軸線。

五、小販、雙語與紅潮：市政局嘅日常

1970 年 7 月 1 日，市政局推行新嘅小販管理制度：持牌人一旦去世，牌照須交還，不得轉讓；非熟食類固定攤位牌照嘅配偶可另行申請酌情處理。同日安排引發小販集結抗議。

1970 年 10 月 6 日，胡鴻烈以市政局議員身分動議修訂《市政局條例》第 45 條，讓局內會議中英雙語並用，最終 17 票贊成、5 票棄權通過。市政局亦管海：1971 年 6 月 26 日，市政總署宣布紅潮消退，並指出呢次係香港政府首次就紅潮作出嘅正式記錄。

六、1983–1986：分區選舉與兩個市政局

1983 年 3 月 8 日，市政局首次以分區方式選舉，全港劃 15 區，投票率 22.25%；該屆議員共 39 位，包括十五位委任非官守、十五位直選同九位區議會代表。選舉由全港一張票，變成十五區各自競爭。

1984 年 2 月 15 日，港府公布地方行政進一步發展建議，打算設立區域市政局；1985 年 4 月 1 日，臨時區域議局先接手市政局管轄範圍以外地區。市政服務由一個局變成一條分界線：市區與新界各自一套。

1986 年 3 月 6 日，區域議局首次選舉同市政局選舉同日舉行，前者設十二個民選席位、後者十五個，整體投票率約 27%；3 月 14 日修例把「區域議局」正名為「區域市政局」，4 月 1 日正式組成並召開第一次會議。

七、文化中心與小販：一個局嘅兩種工作

1989 年 11 月 5 日，香港文化中心在尖沙咀開放，交由市政局營運——市政局唔只掃街，也主辦文化節目。1993 年 3 月 17 日，市政局公布市區流動小販分階段取締，期限定於 1996 年 4 月 1 日。同一個機構，一邊經營音樂廳，一邊清走街邊檔。

1994 年 8 月 31 日，全國人大常委會決定港英最後一屆立法局、市政局、區域市政局同區議會任期一律於 1997 年 6 月 30 日結束。1997 年 7 月 1 日，原有兩局同十八個區議會交由臨時組織管理。

八、1999：廢除與司法覆核

1999 年 12 月 10 日，特區政府公布重組市政服務架構嘅條例，為廢除臨時市政局同臨時區域市政局作前置安排。兩個局嘅議員唔係被選民投票否決，而係被架構重組取消。

1999 年 12 月 23 日，高等法院原訟法庭裁定，廢除兩個市政局冇違反《基本法》第九十七條同第九十八條關於區域組織嘅規定。12 月 31 日，兩個臨時局嘅運作結束；2000 年 1 月 1 日，食環署接手小販管理職務。市政服務由一個議會，交回部門手上。

未解與缺口

  • 戰後歷屆市政局選舉嘅候選人數、當選人同得票率未逐年入庫，只有個別年份嘅數字。
  • 市政局年報同會議紀錄未逐份核讀，本篇只用志錄嘅日期同事件。
  • 市政事務署同市政總署嘅編制同開支數字未登記，所以唔會比較「市政服務增長幾多」。
  • 1999 年之後市政服務分拆到唔同部門嘅完整對應未逐項核實。
  • 市政局轄下街市、泳灘、圖書館同文化場地嘅逐年清單未入庫，本篇唔列資產數目。

文獻點讀

  • 《香港志·總述 大事記》（公元前 5000 年至 2017 年，共 6,500 多條大事）p.166、p.228、p.260、p.286、p.287、p.292、p.303、p.304、p.336、p.347、p.349、p.362、p.367、p.368、p.371、p.445、p.451、p.457、p.464、p.466、p.487、p.507、p.518、p.540、p.543、p.576潔淨局成立、歷次改組同選舉、兩局成立到廢除嘅精確日期主線。官方／出版者網址
  • 《香港志·自然》環境保護與生態保育p.525市政總署處理紅潮同泳灘嘅記錄，用嚟交代市政服務嘅另一面。官方／出版者網址

頁碼係電子書頁碼；同一本書不同版次可能移位。引用時請連書名、卷冊同頁碼一齊寫。

English

1. The Sanitary Board: sanitation before politics

The Urban Council began with sanitation, not with a chamber. On 21 April 1883 the Hong Kong Government announced the creation of the Sanitary Board to supervise and manage local municipal hygiene. Drainage, refuse and disease were the urgent problems, and a dedicated body was more pressing than an elected one.

In 1935 the Government enacted the Urban Council Ordinance: the Sanitary Board was renamed the Urban Council, which formally came into being on 1 January the following year. The change of name was more than signage. Moving from sanitary to urban widened the remit from clearing streets to running a city’s daily services.

2. 1946 and 1952: a meeting before an election

After the Second World War the council held its first meeting on 28 May 1946, at a time when it had no elected seats at all. On 30 May 1952 it held its first post-war election: nine candidates competed for two unofficial seats, and Brook Bernacchi and another candidate won.

In the same year the Secretary of State for the Colonies told the House of Commons that Hong Kong was not ready for full constitutional reform and that only small changes to the Urban Council would be made. On 1 May 1953 the Sanitary Department became the Urban Services Department, responsible for environmental hygiene, resettlement areas and parks. The division of labour was set: councillors debated, the department executed.

3. 1956: a council of twenty-two

On 27 January 1956 the Government reorganised the council: six more unofficial seats on four-year terms and four new elected seats, giving a body of six official, eight appointed unofficial and eight elected members, 22 in all.

On 7 March 1956 the first election under the new structure gave the Reform Club four seats and the Civic Association two; the Reform Club’s candidate became the first woman ever to sit in the council. On 25 March 1964 a Chinese woman was appointed to the council for the first time.

4. 1966 to 1969: redefining who counted as a voter

On 6 May 1966 an amending ordinance dropped the English-language requirement for voters, added categories based on social contribution, professional qualification and education, and required at least three years’ residence. A wider electorate made the council one of the few places where votes could hold anyone to account.

On 4 October 1966 the council published a select committee report proposing a city council with wider powers, carried by 16 unofficial members. On 4 March 1969 its committee on local constitutional reform reported again: phased expansion of the council’s area, a steadily rising share of elected seats, and financial autonomy from the Government. Those three demands became the axis of every later negotiation.

5. Hawkers, bilingual minutes and red tides

On 1 July 1970 the council introduced a new hawker system: a licence returned to the council when the holder died and could not be transferred, though a spouse could apply for discretionary treatment in the case of non-cooked-food fixed stalls. The change brought hawkers out in protest the same day.

On 6 October 1970 a councillor moved to amend section 45 of the Urban Council Ordinance so that meetings could be conducted in Chinese as well as English; the motion passed with 17 votes in favour and 5 abstentions. The council also faced the sea: on 26 June 1971 the Urban Services Department announced that a red tide had subsided, noting that this was the Government’s first formal record of the phenomenon.

6. 1983 to 1986: district elections and two councils

On 8 March 1983 the council held its first district-based election, dividing the territory into 15 districts with a turnout of 22.25 per cent; the term had 39 members, 15 appointed unofficial, 15 elected and nine from district boards. One territory-wide vote became fifteen local contests.

On 15 February 1984 the Government published proposals for further development of local administration, including a Regional Council, and on 1 April 1985 an interim regional body took over municipal work outside the Urban Council’s area. Municipal service now had a boundary: one set for the urban core, another for the New Territories.

On 6 March 1986 the first regional election was held on the same day as the Urban Council election, with twelve elected seats against fifteen and turnout of about 27 per cent. On 14 March an amending ordinance gave the body its final name, and on 1 April 1986 it was formally constituted and held its first meeting.

7. A cultural centre and hawkers: two kinds of council work

On 5 November 1989 the Hong Kong Cultural Centre opened in Tsim Sha Tsui under the council’s management: the council ran concert halls as well as street cleaning. On 17 March 1993 it announced the phased elimination of urban mobile hawkers by 1 April 1996. The same body programmed a concert hall and cleared pavement stalls.

On 31 August 1994 the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress decided that the last colonial Legislative Council, Urban Council, Regional Council and district boards would all end their terms on 30 June 1997. On 1 July 1997 the two councils and eighteen district boards passed to interim bodies.

8. 1999: abolition and judicial review

On 10 December 1999 the SAR Government published an ordinance restructuring municipal services, preparing the ground for abolishing the two interim councils. Their members were not rejected by voters; they were removed by institutional redesign.

On 23 December 1999 the Court of First Instance held that abolishing the two councils did not breach Articles 97 and 98 of the Basic Law on regional organisations. On 31 December the interim councils ceased to operate, and on 1 January 2000 the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department took over hawker management. Municipal service passed from a council back to a department.

Gaps

  • Candidate numbers, winners and vote shares for every post-war council election are not registered year by year; only occasional figures exist.
  • Council annual reports and minutes have not been read page by page, so this piece relies on the chronicle’s dates and events.
  • Staffing and spending figures for the Urban Services Department are not registered, so no claim is made about how much municipal service grew.
  • The full mapping of municipal services to the departments that took them over after 1999 has not been verified item by item.
  • Year-by-year lists of council markets, beaches, libraries and cultural venues are not in the archive, so no asset count is given.

相關頁

引用本篇：請連標題、網址同「香港紀事館深度專題」一齊寫；時間線內每條條目仍以原書頁碼為準。

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