A RESTAURANT owner has urged businesses and the Government to urgently establish venues for youth entertainment following the death of 12 youngsters aged under 20 in the Lan Kwai Fong tragedy.
Lan Kwai Fong Tenants' Association vice-chairman, Mr Barry Kalb, said the association would meet today to start compiling its submission to the inquiry, but he would start lobbying himself for youth entertainment venues.
Twenty people died after a crowd of 15,000 to 20,000 moved downhill after the midnight countdown on New Year's Eve. Twelve were aged 15 to 19 and six were under the legal drinking age of 18.
Mr Kalb said most of the casualties were not regular Lan Kwai Fong patrons but youths who were on the streets because ''they had nowhere else to go''.
He said: ''Reports of people spilling out of nightclubs and restaurants are not accurate because most of the people were outside.
''This is the third New Year's Eve in a row we have seen severe crowding on the streets. It's the third year in a row the streets have been jammed with almost all young people - three-quarters of the kids have been Chinese and a quarter Western.
''It was an incredible crush again but they were not regular Lan Kwai Fong-goers. They were mostly young people who came down to see the action.'' Mr Kalb said many of the youths were outside because they were under the legal drinking age of 18. Some youths probably bought alcohol in supermarkets and got drunk before they came to the area.