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Wednesday, May 10, 1972
ADVERSE CHAIN REACTION FROM EXISTING CROWN RENTS POLICY
Manufacturers' Burden Should Be Alleviated
The Hon. T.K. Ann said today that the effects from the existing
Crown rents policy could forebode a chain reaction of cut-throat competition,
insolvency, unemployment, labour disputes and social unrest.
He was speaking in support of the motion to call for a review
of the Crown rents policy at the Crown Rents Debate at the Legislative
Council.
Mr. Ann feared that the existing policy, which was intended to
benefit the whole community, could "boomerang to the detriment of all."
He said that the present policy on renewable leases had been
the subject of a recent study conducted jointly by the Hong Kong General
Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Hong Kong Industries, with the
assistance of information provided by the Crown Lands Office.
The survey
had shown that the present policy would impose a burden on the manufacturers
which was both too heavy and too sudden for them to bear.
The study, Mr. Ann pointed out involved exclusively factories
operating in self-owned premises. If showed that the revised Crown rents,
when related to sales turnover of the respective factories, averaged
2.4 per cent.
"It can be seen then that the increased Crown rents, on the
average, will mean that the manufacturers concerned must either increase
their sale prices by 2.4 per cent, or must reduce their profit accordingly,
so as to pay for the increased Crown rent.
With