7.
The Bill
The first part of
5
can be divided into five major components.
the Bill is enabling in nature in that it
the
amends
the existing
Kowloon-Canton
Railway
Corporation
Ordinance by expanding the scope of the Ordinance
so that
that the
KCRC may take on the LRT project as both owner and operator.
More specifically, Clause 5 of the Bill confers on the
Corporation the power to construct and operate the LRT system
and to operate bus services within that part of the
North-western New Territories to be called the 'North-west
and
Transit Service Area'. By extending the provisions of section
4 of the principal Ordinance to cover the LRT, this clause also
empowers the KCRC, inter alia, to determine the fares, routes
frequencies of the LRT system and its associated bus
network. Such powers would provide the necessary flexibility
to enable the KCRC to adjust its services in response to
demand. In order to enable the Corporation to raise sufficient
funds to finance the project, the Financial Secretary has
increased the borrowing limit of the Corporation from $1.5
Accordingly, Clause 8 of the Bill sets
billion to $3 billion.
out this new borrowing limit of the Corporation. Clause 15
extends the Corporation's by-law making powers to the LRT and
its bus services.
8.
The second major aspect of the legislation deals with
the measures which are required for the development of an
integrated public transport system in the
Service Area. Clause 3 provides for the
North-west
Transit
boundaries of the
North-west Transit Service Area to be defined by reference to a