YOUR correspondent, Szeto Ho-kwong (South China Morning Post, February 10), complained about the inadequate facilities for swimming during the winter, citing the Morrison Hill and Kowloon Park indoor pools as the only two pools open to the public at this time of the year. He (and thousands more) is the victim of the short-sighted policy of the Urban Council, which has built dozens of pools in the urban area, but neglected to provide enough covered, heated pools to satisfy the public's needs during the winter. I once asked the Urban Council representative at a Sports Development Board meeting, why the council had built so few pools for winter use. The reply, given in all seriousness, was that Hong Kong people did not like to swim in the winter. This, unfortunately, has been typical of the level of thinking behind the provision and management of many of Hong Kong's public sports facilities. Billions of dollars have been spent building swimming pool complexes, the vast majority of which can only be used during the summer months. The rest of the year they stand empty and unused. A study is urgently needed to find ways to cover and heat some of them so as to allow more people to enjoy swimming all year round. It is not only the general public who suffer from the Urban Council's lack of foresight, those who wish to train for competition are also penalised by the lack of facilities, to the detriment of Hong Kong's ability to develop a sports culture and to compete successfully at the international level. ROBERT L. WILSON Discovery Bay
