Wednesday, February 14, 1973
GO-AHEAD FOR MASS TRANSIT RAILWAY
Government To Build First Four Stages Immediately
*
A firm decision has been taken to go ahead with the massive multi-
million-dollar Mass Transit Railway system.
Announcing this today, the Financial Secretary, the Hon. C.P. Haddon-Cave,
told the Legislative Council: "The Government has decided to proceed immediately
with constructing the first four of the nine stages of the full system."
"To this end, preparatory engineering design work, soil investigation
and so on are already on hand."
TI
The Financial Secretary also stated that:
*There would have to be a body responsible for implementing
the project.
* An independent public corporation would have to be
established by law to operate and maintain the system after construction.
* Further consultations were necessary to determine the
best approach of contracting for the project.
The final decision to proceed with the giant project followed the
findings of the Steering Group set up to investigate the best means of
financing, tendering for and operating the system that it should be possible
to raise the capital required for constructing the full Mass Transit Railway.
Mr. Haddon-Cave told the Council the Steering Group had concluded that the
necessary capital could come from a combination of sources on terms "which, by
present indications, are likely to be acceptable."
This conclusion,