CONFIDEN
AL
Local public reaction in Tuen Mun district to
proposed LRT related legislation
Annex I
The Tuen Mun District Board was first consulted on LRT proposals in 1984. At that time, the District Board supported the proposals for the construction of the LRT but had some reservations about the proposed KCRC monopoly in the Transit Service Area. A detailed critique of the proposals for the monopoly was made in 1984 by two DB members, NG Cheuk-tai and WONG Hok-yee and their points were subsequently answered at a meeting with the Deputy Secretary for Transport.
2.
Since 1984, elections to the District Board have brought about a change in personalities. In particular, a number of elected members allied to pressure groups have become active in the district. The main pressure group involved is Meeting Point.
3.
In April 1986, the Kowloon Motor Bus Company issued letters to District Board members in Tuen Mun and Yuen Long setting out their case for opposing the proposed transport monopoly. They particularly solicited the interest of pressure group members who they saw as being easy to monipulate to their own ends. Early in June 1986, the DO held an informal discussion with all DB members to put forward the Government's view. One District Board member, who is also on the Board of Directors of the KCRC, also argued perusuasively for the concept of the TSA anû the restriction of competition. Following this meeting, the District Board members resolved to set up a working group to obtain information from the KCRC and Government on the details of the proposed legislation and to put forward district views to the UMELCO Ad-hoc Group at the appropriate time.
4.
District Board members who are associated with the pressure groups have decided to take a stand against "monopoly" on principle. While they admit that they do not have sufficient information and are still denying that they have a firm policy on the matter, they have undertaken a certain amount of publicity hostile to the proposals for a KCRC transport monopoly. There has been some sympathetic reaction to statements made by the pressure group members to the press.
The level of public knowledge and interest in the affair is still very low. However, the term which has been put about in connection with the TSA is "monopoly" and this has inevitably raised some antipathy among local residents.
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CONFIDENTIAL
機密
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