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rather than a Central Council. To those newcomers to the Colony, and I dare say even to some new members of this Council I would draw their attention to only a few of the problems which owe its genesis to this Council, and through its resolve and drive they are being tackled with a very large measure of success. I refer of course to the resettlement problem, the clearance of squatters from unauthorized occupation of Crown land, the housing problem, the formation of the Housing Authority, parks and playgrounds, public libraries and more recently of course the Ad Hoc committee's report for the formation of local government. In this connection, Sir, I would like to refer to the current visit of Mr. Fred LEE, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, whose mission is to make the Hong Kong Government pay more towards the imperial defence cost of this region. I would think that greater representation in the three councils of Hong Kong should call for his attention more than such mundane affairs as defence contribution. It is well known and an accepted British principle and practice that no taxation can be levied without representation. In an early age when Britain forgot and ignored this very important political truth she lost her first and largest Colony—the American Colony.
Like a nation, a city requires the same degree of planning and care if it is to meet successfully with the various challenges it has to face as a result of the mounting increase of population in a very limited area of land. In case we are not aware of the fact, the population of Hong Kong has since 1945 increased by seven times to the present figure of 3,716,400 people. Nearly all are concentrated within the area of 19.6 square miles on both sides of the harbour, taking the area of the northern shore of Hong Kong as 4 square miles, the area of Kowloon as 3.7 square miles, and the area of new Kowloon as 11.9 square miles.
Since most of the population are concentrated in the urban area some of the districts are the most congested in the world, and in its wake it has created some of the most vexed problems such as acute housing shortage, poor public health, unsatisfactory public transportation and inadequate medical facilities. At present Government resettlement and low-cost housing problem is restricted by the shortage of housing sites in the urban area. Since this is the case, we should take a page from the planning of other countries to open up undeveloped outlying areas. In British Columbia, for example, the provincial government has built a railway to open up virgin territory to extract natural resources and develop forest land for the opening of new town sites on liberal terms and at reasonable cost to attract new and enterprising home builders. There is plenty of land for development in Hong Kong. Lantao is larger than Hong Kong island and has over 50 square miles for opening up. The same can be said of the mainland of the New Territories. What is needed is more road building to make undeveloped land more accessible. To link Lantao with other parts of the Colony it is essential to build a system of tunnel or bridges. When the necessary public projects are built the outlying districts will attract private enterprise and development. We have no shortage of finance in the private sector. Since we have a surplus of manpower and no shortage of technical know-how we should make every effort to utilize it. I know many countries are short of labour but in Hong Kong we are very rich in manpower. With many industries being opened up and some with even overseas capital we should exploit our potentials. It is no empty bombast that Hong Kong as an international tourist centre has grown from strength to strength, and there is no indication that she will surrender her enviable position. Although the lush years of showing a budgetary surplus is over, this sort of thing is seen in every country, and we should not be too unduly pessimistic in carrying out our development plans. Perhaps we would make ourselves a better candidate to borrow funds from the World Bank.
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Although we have considered Hong Kong as a trading outpost, the number of refugees swelling our population and the importance that Hong Kong has reached to become an industrial centre, plus the fact that Hong Kong is now a tourist centre of world renown, Hong Kong has taken on the status of a nation rather than just a community. Our population figures and its trade returns are better than many so-called nations can show—e.g. New Zealand is but one of the many cases in point. We must be bold in our planning, we cannot afford to be timid, as the problems that confront us are more in a nature of national projects rather than municipal ones. Communication between all districts and areas must be first class and all embracing as a first consideration. At this stage I would draw the attention of government to accelerate the provision of a cross-harbour tunnel between Hong Kong and Kowloon when if this is completed it will improve the traffic flow between these large communities. It will also save time for people to travel from one place to another and need I emphasize that the people of Hong Kong desire it? I don't understand Government procrastination tactics. After all, the project is largely undertaken by private enterprise. I believe that its early realisation and completion is to the public interest. I hope government will give this matter its utmost consideration to bring this major city to the status of a modern metropolis.
The mileage of railroad serving the New Territories is totally inadequate. A new loop serving the satellite towns of Yuen Long, Castle Peak, Tsuen Wan is long overdue. As the British side of the Canton Kowloon Railway is inadequate to serve both the freight and passenger traffic, it will not be long that a double tracking of the line will become necessary as the railway administration is not only badly pressed but it also brings in good revenue. Not only that, but it becomes increasingly necessary that the rail mileage must be increased to handle the growing demand of the railway business. This is specially the case
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