**
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Wednesday, March 15, 1972
Secondly, Sir Yuet-keung went on, "it is disturbing to find that
Government, instead of facing up to the road congestion problem in a satisfactory
manner, ie attempting to make the commuter travelling by car the villain of the
piece."
Travel to and from work was a necessity, not a pleasure, and in the
light of Hong Kong's inadequate public transport, and the fact that large areas
of the Colony were not served by public transport at all, what alternative, Sir
Yuet-keung asked, was there for many people than to commute by car?
Divergent Policies
Government had placed itself in an "invidious position" on the question
of private motorists and parking by having two widely divergent policies → one
for the general public and one for civil servants.
In dealing with the public, Sir Yuet-keung said, Government was "all
out" to cut down the use of private cars and to make motorists pay more for parking.
"Government has repeatedly pointed out how valuable land used for parking
is, and how much more car park charges should be than they are.
"Public servants, however, live in a different world entirely. Government
encourages ownership of cars by making loans to civil servanta for the purchase of
cars on a very generous basis I think for 36 months of repayment terms at four
per cent interest.
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"And it encourages even minor civil servants commuting by car by providing
free parking on extremely valuable land in expensive central urban areas,
F
Sir Yuet-keung said that some years ago, the then Financial Secretary
did an exercise in which he calculated, on a commercial basis, the cost of parking
spaces in multi-storey car parks,
/"Perhaps