10.
+
The shopkeepers to be cleared have continually demanded the same treatment as their 1976 counterparts i.e. to be allocated shops on a one-for-one basis. The proposed ex-gratia cash compensation arrangements will go some way towards meeting their alleged grievances but it is likely that the shopkeepers may attempt to seek public sympathy, particularly after what they consider to have been the success of the publicity given to the closure of the Lutheran Primary School in Sha Tin Market in June 1978. The Secretary for the New Territories aims to overcome adverse
publicity:
a)
by making the compensation arrangements sufficient so as to offset the shortage of reserved shop spaces; and
b) by explaining that Government has treated the clearance of Sha Tin Market as a special case and that special compensation arrangements will enable the shopkeepers to compete in the open tender for the remaining shops and shop stalls in Wo Che should they wish to continue trading in Sha Tin.
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District Office, Sha Tin
Date: 26th September 1978
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