WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1976
17
'HUMAN ASPECT OF NEW TERRITORIES DEVELOPMENT
******
THE SECRETARY FOR THE NEW TERRITORIES, MR. DAVID AKERS-JONES, TODAY PAINTED ANOTHER SIDE OF THE PICTURE OF THE BOOM IN THE NEW TERRITORIES - THE HUMAN SIDE.
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HE SAID THE MASSIVE DEVELOPMENT OF THE AREA HAD BROUGHT A NEED FOR THE GOVERNMENT AND THE COMMUNITY TO CONTROL A NEW ENVIRONMENT
- THRUST UPON THEM BY THE TWENTIETH CENTURY AND THE PROBLEMS OF PROVIDING FOR SO MANY PEOPLE,
MR. AKERS-JONES TOLD A LUNCHEON MEETING OF THE ZONTA CLUB : +A VISIT TO THE NEW TERRITORIES THESE DAYS CAN NOT BUT LEAVE THE TOWNSMAN BEWILDERED AT THE RAPID PACE OF DEVELOPMENT, SHOCKED TO SEE PEACEFUL VALLEYS ECHOING TO THE CRASH OF PILE-DRIVERS DISMAYED TO FIND LAND WHERE THE SEA WAS.+
AND
BUT ALL THIS WAS BEING DONE, HE SAID, TO REMOVE WHAT THE GOVERNOR HAD DESCRIBED AS ONE OF THE MAJOR AND MOST CONSTANT SOURCES OF UNHAPPINESS BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT AND THE POPULATION - THE HOUSING PROBLEM.
REAL EVIDENCE OF THE EFFORTS TO REMOVE THIS SOURCE OF UNHAPPINESS COULD BE SEEN EVERYWHERE IN THE NEW TERRITORIES, HE ADDED. IT IS THE PRIME IMPETUS BEHIND THE DEVELOPMENT THAT WE NOW SEE ALL AROUND US AND WHICH WILL EVENTUALLY RAISE THE POPULATION OF THE NEW TERRITORIES FROM JUST OVER 400,000 IN 1961, OR 13 PER CENT OF THE TOTAL POPULATION, TO NEARLY 2-1/2 MILLION, OR 40 PER CENT OF THE TOTAL POPULATION, IN 1986.
+THE NEW TERRITORIES WILL PLAY A KEY ROLE IN HONG KONG'S DEVELOPMENT OVER THE NEXT FEW DECADES.+
DEALING WITH THE HUMAN PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEW TERRITORIES, MR. AKERS-JONES SAID THE FIRST WAS THE DISTURBANCE AND DISRUPTION TO THE LIVES OF PEOPLE ALREADY LIVING ON THE LAND TO BE DEVELOPED,
+RESTAURANTS, MONASTERIES, PIGSTIES, FACTORIES, MAHJONG SCHOOLS, KINDERGARTENS, ORCHARDS, SWEET POTATOES, BONE POTS - EVERY ASPECT OF HUMAN EXISTENCE.
+EACH HAS TO BE DEALT WITH AS FAIRLY AND SYMPATHETICALLY AS POSSIBLE, BUT IN THE END, WHATEVER COMPENSATION, THE WRENCH FROM THE HOUSE YOU HAVE LIVED IN, THE PATTERN OF LIFE YOU HAVE ESTABLISHED IS CONSIDERABLE AND WE SHOULD AND MUST MAKE ALLOWANCE FOR IT.
+AND THEN THERE ARE THE PEOPLE LIVING IN THE NEW ENVIRONMENT IN THE DEVELOPED AREA.
+THROUGHOUT HONG KONG WE ARE TRYING TO TIGHTEN UP THE SINEWS OF SOCIETY. A SOCIETY WHOSE TRADITIONAL VALUES AND STRUCTURE IS BEING SHAKEN FROM WITHIN AND WITHOUT.
/+FROM WITHIN