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Wednesday, June 20, 1973.
GOVERNMENT CRITICISED OVER MID-LEVELS LANDSLIDE
The governpent was today criticised in connection with develop-
ment works in the Po Shan Road area prior to the landslide tragedy in
June last year.
Reviewing the events that led to the tragedy exactly a year ago,
the Hon. Szeto Wai said: "The Po Shan Road disaster is a tragic example
that not only points to nonchalance, negligence and procrastination, but
also gives rise to speculation of collusion."
Speaking in the Legislative Council during the adjournment debate
on the final report of the Commission of Inquiry into the rainstorm disasters,
he noted that the western Mid-Level area had a long history of landslips,
going back as far as 1925.
"Unfortunately, the lesson from the many disasters has not been
learned and the nonchalant attitude was allowed to continue culminating in
the worst catastrophy on record."
In allowing intensive development in the area, he said, the
government stood to be criticised, "not so much for the deficiencies in the
building regulations as for the random granting of lease modifications to
permit such intensive development without regard to the geological formation
of the area which consists mainly of potentially unstable volcanic colluvial
deposits."
While the commission had found the Building Authority's requirements
for the design of site formation work for building projects generally acceptable,
Mr. Szeto felt that more stringent requiremonta vere nooded in crops where the soil
consisted of volcanic colluvium.
In this regard,