B8
activities and to promote better understanding, particularly where
government policies are causing dissatisfaction.
This function is
generally achieved by personal contact with all sectors of the
community.. Other means of ascertaining public reaction are the
monitoring of talk-back radio programmes, complaints made at City
District Offices, correspondence in the daily newspapers, public
consultations on major policy issues and the conducting of public
opinion surveys. The Home Affairs Department is responsible for the
City District Officer scheme, which was introduced in 1968 to improve
communications between the government and the people. There are
10 city district offices and 19 sub-offices in the urban areas of
Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. A variety of services are offered, the
best known being the public inquiry service; this counter service can
advise a member of the public on almost any aspect of government policy
and procedure. The role of the Home Affairs Department as monitor and
co-ordinator of government services at district level has taken on a
new emphasis with the success of a pilot District Management Committee
in Kwun Tong and the decision to extend the scheme throughout the
urban area (see paragraph 12 below).
11.
The New Territories is administered as an integral part of
Hong Kong but in a different way from the urban areas of Hong Kong
Island and Kowloon. The New Territories comes under a district
office system with the district officer largely drawing his authority
from his responsibilities as a land officer. Since 1974 the New
Territories Administration has been headed by a Secretary, who has