THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 1980
TRUE HONG KONG STYLE TO TACKLE OUR PROBLEMS SAYS SIR JACK
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THE CHIEF SECRETARY, SIR JACK CATER SAYS ALL GOVERNMENT PLANNING, WHETHER IN TERMS OF LAND PRODUCTION, HOUSING, SOCIAL SERVICES, HAS BEEN AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE AFFECTED OR OUR SUDDEN, STARTLING, POPULATION INCREASE IN 1979.
SPEAKING AT THE ANNUAL DINNER OF THE HONG KONG GENERAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE TONIGHT, SIR JACK SAIDI UNFORESEEN, UNPLANNED FOR THOUGH THAT INCREASE WAS, WE ARE NEVERTHELESS TACKLING OUR PROBLEMS IN TRUE HONG KONG STYLE.+
IT IS NOT THE FIRST TIME WE HAVE BEEN OVERWHELMED WITH PEOPLE AND AS USUAL, HONG KONG WILL NO DOUBT MAKE SOME EXTRA BOOTSTRAPS, PICK ITSELF UP BY THEM AND CARRY ON TO THE VERY BEST OF ITS ABILITY. +
SIR JACK SAID THOUGH WE MAY WELL HAVE TO WAIT FOR THE RESULTS OF THE 1981 CENSUS BEFORE GETTING A REASONABLY ACCURATE COUNT OF OUR POPULATION, THE GUESS ESTIMATE' WAS THAT AT THE END OF 1979, 70 000 LEGAL IMMIGRANTS AND 110 000 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS HAD ARRIVED DURING THE YEAR FROM CHINA APART FROM THE 50 000 BOAT REFUGEES FROM VIETNAM PRESENTLY HERE,
NET MIGRATION IN RESPECT OF COUNTRIES OTHER THAN CHINA SHOWED A SMALL LOSS OF SOME 2 000, LEAVING A BALANCE OF NET MIGRATION INTO HONG KONG OF ABOUT 178 000. EXCLUDING THE TRANSIENT 50 000 VIETNAMESE BOAT REFUGEES, HONG KONG IS STILL LEFT WITH A POPULATION GROWTH RATE OF 5.2 PER CENT LAST YEAR WHICH IS A LOT MORE THAN THE 1.2 PER CENT NATURAL GROWTH RATE.
STARTING WITH THE BASE OF A PRESENT FIVE MILLION POPULATION WHICH SIR JACK DESCRIBED AS ADMITTEDLY MODEST AND IT COULD WELL BE AT LEAST 5.5 MILLION, HE SAID 1986 WOULD SEE HONG KONG'S POPULATION STANDING AT AROUND 6.5 MILLION AND BY 1991 NEARLY EIGHT MILLION.
+ IN TERMS OF ONE ASPECT OF SOCIAL SERVICES (BASED ON THOSE THEORETICAL FIGURES) BY THE YEAR 1986 WE SHOULD NEED TO HAVE SOME SEVEN MORE HOSPITALS OF THE CAPACITY OF PRINCESS MARGARET HOSPITAL THAN WE ARE AT PRESENT PLANNING FOR.
ON PUBLIC HOUSING NEED, HE SAID A FURTHER 30 000 FLATS A YEAR WOULD BE REQUIRED ON TOP OF THE CURRENT PRODUCTION RATE OF 35 000 FLATS A YEAR THE HIGHEST RATE WE HAVE EVER ACHIEVED.
HE ALSO NOTED THAT TO HOUSE AN EXTRA 1.4 MILLION PEOPLE BY 1986 ACCORDING TO THE PROJECTION, WE WOULD NEED THREE MORE TOWNS.
ON LEGAL AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION, SIR JACK SAID AS A RESULT OF VARIOUS MEASURES TAKEN BY THE GOVERNMENT, THERE WAS A REDUCTION IN THE LEGAL OUTFLOW FROM CHINA FROM ABOUT 300 A DAY IN DECEMBER TO ABOUT 150 A DAY AT PRESENT. AND FOLLOWING MEASURES INTRODUCED BY THE CHINESE AUTHORITIES THIS MONTH, THERE HAS BEEN A WELCOME DECREASE IN ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION TOO. SO
SO FAR THIS MONTH THE AVERAGE DAILY ARRESTS HAVE NUMBERED 137.
HE ALSO