15
Thursday, March 16, 1972
"I wonder, incidentally, whether it would be worth considering
having our own man in Tokyo as well," he asked.
Certainly there was indication that Hong Kong's public relations
not only in the United Kingdom, but elsewhere as well, was lacking in some
respects, he added,
"The Public Works Programme included in the Estimates shows
the gigantic task with which the Department is faced, and they have my
utmost admiration," he said.
It was inevitable that some projects got delayed for one reason
or other, in whatever category they might be, he added.
Post Office
"But the long delay in the Colony Mail Sorting Office in Hung Hom
and the General Post Office in Central stick out like a sore thumb; while
it is absurd for an item, such as improvements at the Tathong Point Light
Station, to go into Category E, in 1969, and have to be upgraded to Category
A in 1972 because it is now going to cost three times the original estimate."
A substantial cause of crime and drug taking had to be attributed
to the home-life of many of the Colony's citizens, not just in the overcrowded
resettlement estates, but the many living in slum conditions in areas of
very high density population, he said.
"One form of relief to the younger generation, and I personally
think a most important one, is the provision not only of open spaces, and
parks, and playgrounds for children, but also for places where sport of one
sort or another can be played."
Mr. Salmon