should (besides being paid a reasonable compensation) be granted preferential
terms to occupy shop units in public housing estates according to their types of
business.
16.
When villagers are resettled in a different area as a consequence of
the expropriation of their homes, they are moved to an unfamiliar environment.
The old, poor or sick should be given welfare allowances, Social Welfare
Authorities should care for displaced villagers who are unemployed because they
can no longer continue to be farmers, and arrange for the grant of hawker
licences and for their applications for commercial driving licences to be
processed without the normal delay of over one year.
17.
The villager in his original habitat had land on which his home could
be extended to provide accommodation for a growing family. When he is resited,
his new accommodation cannot be expanded to provide for family increase.
Government should bear this in mind and also the fact that the villagers are
descendants of persons who were subjects of China in 1898, and presumably will
revert to this status when the New Territories Lease expires in 1997.
III.
1.
PARTICIPATION IN LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION
Some Councillors of the Heung Yee Kuk who own properties should be
selected by the Governor of Hong Kong for appointment as of the Legislative
Council of Hong Kong with the approval of Her Majesty the Queen. As regards the
Executive Council of Hong Kong, representation on a regional basis should be
taken into consideration. Some Councillors of the Heung Yee Kuk should be selected
for this appointment.
2.
At the end of 1976 it was learnt that the Hong Kong and Yaumati Ferry
Company Limited proposed to increase its fares, villagers who relied on the
Company's ferries as their sole means of transport to the Urban areas were
concerned, particularly for the children who had to travel daily to their schools.
Objections were made to the Secretary for the New Territories. The Secretary for
the New Territories did not see fit to put these objections to the Legislative
Council and the new fares were approved without debate or opposition. It seems
clear that the Secretary for the New Territories does not represent the people of
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