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In all the figures published by the Hong Kong Government in the Sai Lau Kok case, both for compensation and for the cost of available accommodation, net areas have been used to calculate the values and the comparisons which have been given are therefore valid.
I am sorry to have to go into such detail but I hope I have given you enough information to show that there has been no attempt by Government to misrepresent the facts and that there is no justification for applying net values to gross areas as Mrs. Elliott has suggested in her letter.
In your letter you have also mentioned Augustine Chung's report on Sai Lau Kok and I am enclosing a copy of it, of the subsequent correspondence and of the compensation figures to which I referred in my letter. The Sai Lau Kok residents referred to in Augustine Chung's letter of 21st September were charged in connection with one incident pre-dating the clearance. They were found not guilty.
We are having a close look at the whole problem of compensation and I will let you know the outcome. In the course of this review we will be looking at Augustine Chung's report in detail and I would prefer to comment when this has been done. However, if there are any particular points you wish to raise on the report please let me know and I will do my best to answer them.
у
(J. R. Todd)
эди
Deputy Secretary for the New Territories
c.c. MTA (w/o e)
Encls.
JRT/em'c