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convinced that it would be right to delay the
introduction of this important measure for that reason
alone.
(ii) Housing
He has, however, stressed
The Prime Minister was most impressed by the
remarkable achievements of the Hong Kong Government
over the last decade in providing accommodation for
the people of the Colony.
to me his hope that it will be possible by a "crash"
programme to increase the rate at which it is planned
to house the remaining 500,000 squatters and so finish
the job. I should therefore be most grateful if you
could have a special study made of this problem and
let me know the result.
(iii) Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration
(Ombudsman)
I would like to see a post of Ombudsman or
similar office established as soon as possible. I
know that some of the unofficial members of both the
Executive and Legislative Councils doubt whether such
a post is necessary and that the constitutional position
of the Colony makes it impossible to follow the model
of responsibility to Parliament that is appropriate here.
But just as Hong Kong is so much "sui generis", so
there is no need exactly to reproduce the machinery
that has been evolved elsewhere. It strikes me,
nevertheless,
that the "Ombudsman" concept is
particularly suitable for the circumstances of
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Hong Kong