Revised Question No. 11
REPLY BY THE HON. MR. MICHAEL THOMAS, CMG, QC, ATTORNEY GENERAL
TO A QUESTION FROM THE HON. LYDIA DUNN, CBE, JP
IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL MEETING ON 12 MARCH, 1986
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QUESTION
What steps have the Government taken to implement the recommendation of the Marine Court of Inquiry into the loss of the Osprey dated 30 July 1984 that there was an urgent need for an independent Search and Rescue Centre to be established in Hong Kong in order to save lives and property in distress at sea?
REPLY
It is true that consideration of this important
recommendation has taken longer than the Government would
have liked. But we are nearly there.
Following publication of the report, the Secretary
for Security promptly established a Working Group to study
the Court's recommendations. The Working Group comprised
representatives from the Marine Department, Civil Aviation
Department, Economic Services Branch, the Royal Hong Kong
Auxiliary Air Force, the Royal Navy, the Royal Air Force
and the Marine Police.
The Working Group has since endorsed the implementation
of all the other recommendations of the Court relating to
search and rescue. But the Working Group's study of the
court's recommendation for the establishment of an
independent search and rescue centre has been protracted
because of the many important issues involved and because the
/findings
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