( 3
PRIORITY
GR 300
EN CLAIR
FM HONG KONG 141140Z
UNCLASSIFIED
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY No.52
15 JAN1975
NKK 21
175
TO PRIORITY DOT TELNO CREDA 6 OF 14 JANUARY INFO PRIORITY TOKYO, ECDG (COTTERILL) FCO (HKIOD).
CRE4 (MISS WELCH).
LAST
RCF
@
FOR FARRY OFPD.
NEXT
REF.
MY TEL CREDA 4: MASS TRANSIT.
I LISTENED TO THAT PART OF PRESS CONFERENCE GIVEN BY THE
FINANCIAL SECRETARY THIS AFTERNOON WHICH WAS BROADCAST. HE DISCLOSED
THAT THE JAPANESE CONSORTIUM HAD WITHDRAWN FROM THE PROJECT IN DECEMBER. HE ACCUSED THEM OF A SERIOUS ERROR OF JUDGEMENT AT THE BEST, SUGGESTED THAT THEY COULD HAVE WITHDRAWN EARLIER AND DISCLOSED THAT THE DESIGN SOLUTION PROMISED BY THE END OF SEPTEMBER, WHEN RECEIVED IN MID-NOVEMBER, INCOMPLETE, INADEQUATE AND IN SOME RESPECTS UNSUITED AND IRRELEVANT TO CONDITIONS IN HONG KONG.
2. HE ANNOUNCED THAT HE WAS AUTHORISED BY THE GOVERNOR IN COUNCIL TO SAY THAT REGARDLESS OF THE UNILATERAL WITHDRAWAL BY THE JAPANESE CONSORTIUM, THE GOVERNMENT WAS DETERMINED TO TRY ITS BEST TO GET THE SYSTEM BUILT. WITHOUT A MASS TRANSIT SYSTEM, CONGESTION WOULD BECOME
INTOLERABLE BY THE 1980'S.
INTENSIVE WORK HAD BEEN UNDERTAKEN OVER THE PAST EIGHT WEEKS THEREFORE TO PRODUCE A MODIFIED INITIAL SYSTEM AND THE PROPOSALS HAD BEEN APPROVED IN PRINCIPLE BY THE GOVERNOR IN COUNCIL. /3. IT