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PROGRESS
new roads, bridges and flyovers were frequently found under con- struction by Hong Kong motorists. Such improvements are necessary to cope with the swelling numbers of vehicles; private cars alone increased by 10 per cent during 1968. Though often large in them- selves, these road works are piece-meal and the continuous trend towards longer-term schemes continued during the year. Attempts were made by the Cross Harbour Tunnel Company to make adequate financial arrangements for the proposed tunnel between Hong Kong and Kowloon, but at the end of the year the project was still in doubt. The Mass Transport Report prepared by consultants was published in February. This recommended, at a cost of some $4,000 million, the construction of an underground railway system linking Hong Kong Island with Kowloon, Kwun Tong and Tsuen Wan, as well as a line along the north shore of Hong Kong Island. A modified scheme which concentrated on the cross-harbour link with a system serving the most densely populated parts of Kowloon, had emerged by the end of the year as being nearer the realms of early practical and financial possibility. The Passenger Transport Survey and Long Term Road Study were also published and became useful reference works in the planning of further improvements. Some of the proposals which emerged from the Long Term Road Study were already in the Government's public works programme and were due for completion during the next five years.
PEOPLE AND GOVERNMENT
The City District Officer scheme was introduced progressively during the year. For many years the Government has been consider- ing ways of putting the civil service in closer touch with the people of the Colony, especially in the urban area. In the interest of efficiency and economy most government services are arranged on a func- tional basis, each service separately and centrally administered by a different department. With the growing complexity and sophisti- cation of government machinery the workings of the civil service have tended to become more specialized and perhaps less concerned with the human background of its operations. Similarly, with government activities divided into compartments, it was not easy for the Government to learn of and deal with special problems and difficulties of different districts of the urban area-problems which might fall within the purview of several departments. Already
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