77
18
Directors
will also work to increase the
in the department are proficient in Chinese.
we
percentage of suitably
qualified officers in the other
department.
directorate ranks of the
132.
I hope what I have said will be seen as evidence of
the Government's continuing commitment to localisation. The
dominance of local people in the management of programmes
and services is in my view essential. Nevertheless, we must
not forget that Hong Kong is an international city in which
overseas officers continue to have an important place, a
fact recognised by the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law.
Those who cannot continue to be accommodated must be treated
fairly.
COMMON CONDITIONS OF SERVICE
133.
The existance of two sets of conditions for civil
servants, one 'local', the other "overseas" has helped fuel
the localisation debate. We have narrowed the differences
and indeed removed them entirely at the most senior ranks.
We need to do more. The historical justification for the
present system has worn vary thin in the last decade of the
twentieth century.
***** WINN