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Wednesday,, November 14, 1973
NEW TERRITORIES DEVELOPMENT VITAL TO HONG KONG
The Hon. .W. Lee today spoke at length about development in the
New Territories.
Speaking at the Legislative Council, he said that the development
of the New Territories was vital to the development of Hong Kong as a
whole.
He stressed: "The Government foresees the need of developing the
New Territories but the delay of such development is mainly attributable
to the indecisive land policy."
He recalled that as early as 1950, the Government had already
announced its intention to develop and to make full use of the New Territories
and since then, policies for resumption or surrender of land have been
established.
"Eowever, such policies are not only complicated but have also been
changed so frequently that it has cuased overall confusion, interruption
and particularly undue delay, sometimes giving rise to corruption."
Mr. Lee made two points for early consideration by the government.
One was the need for a revised formula for land resumption which would take
into account the development value of land as distinct from its current
value for agricultural purposes, when assessing the rate of compensation.
The other proposal was for the setting up of a permanent land
tribunal which would be more efficient than the present system of appointing
individual land compensation boards.
This,