CONFIDENTIAL
機密
;
XCC(76)85
2 -
organisation receiving discretionary aid from the Government, in the sense that the old Housing Authority took the initiative in providing services which, while recognised as being subvention-worthy, did not fall within the category of services which the Government wished to promote actively in pursuance of well-defined targets.
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THAN
The new Authority, which came into being with the enactment of the Housing Ordinance (Chapter 283) in April 1973, was charged with a role much more extensive than that of its predecessor. It took over all public housing estates, including the resettlement estates and Government low-cost housing estates, and became the Government's agent for imple- menting an ambitious public housing programme.
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As at 1st April 1973, therefore, the new Authority inherited
the following indebtedness:
(a). the resettlement and Government low-cost housing
estates, which were vested in the new Authority; and
(b)
the outstanding borrowings by the old Housing Authority from the Development Loan Fund.
Since that date the Authority has incurred further indebtedness in respect of:
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(c)
(d)
further interest-bearing loans from the Development. Loan Fund to finance new estates; and
the value of new public housing estates financed through the Public Works Programme which on completion are handed over to the Authority.
Given that the Authority is the Government's agent for pro- viding and managing public housing, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the fact that the Authority's capital structure is founded almost wholly on interest-bearing debt. But the fact remains that, notwithstanding rent increases, the Authority has not been able to discharge its cash liabilities to the Government in full, if only because of the sheer size of its inherited debt and the practical limitations to the ways and means by which this debt could be serviced, let alone cleared. And it is apparent that this situation will continue for so long as the Authority's indebtedness to the Government increases with further substantial borrowings from the Development Loan Fund. In the circumstances, it is proposed, subject to the approval of the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council, to convert the Authority's total indebtedness as at 1st April 1976, into a form of permanent capital investment in the Authority by the Government,
CONFIDENTIAL
機密