21
Wednesday, March 15, 1972
On parking charges, he said the Financial Secretary had stirred up
"the hornet's nest" by proposing to increase parking charges.
"The objection is understandable because of the acute shortage of
parking spaces and Government's continued denial of the dire need of such
facilities in the many busy commercial/residential areas," he added.
"Above all is the resentment to the preferential treatment meted out
to civil servants and the expense of the people who are the employers.
"The present policy on off-street parking and the emphasis on commercial
viability of Government multi-storey carpark are responsible for our critical
parking condition today."
He said the Financial Secretary had not linked the increase of parking
charges to commercial viability but rather to a more enlightened principle of
road use and had warned that such increases represented the beginning of a
continuing process aimed at relieving road congestion.
"I cannot lend my support to the increase if it is designed chiefly
as a measure to combat road congestion while continuing to ignore the needs of
more off-street car-parks by Government," he said.
/In the