FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 1980
+THE OBVIOUS POINT IS THAT THERE CAN BE NO SUCCESSFUL DEVELOPMENT WITHOUT THE PROVISION OF ADEQUATE COMMUNICATIONS- AND, OBVERSELY, THAT GOOD COMMUNICATIONS BRING IN THEIR WAKE THE OPENING UP OF FURTHER POSSIBILITIES FOR DEVELOPMENT. THE NEW TOWNS WILL REQUIRE ADEQUATE ROADS LINKING THEM TO EACH OTHER AND TO THE OLDER URBAN AREA. TO THIS END IT IS ESSENTIAL TO MOVE AHEAD WITH THE LINKS IN THE NEW TERRITORIES' CIRCULAR ROAD FROM TSUEN WAN TO TUEN MUN, YUEN LONG, FANLING AND SHEUNG SHUI, TAI PO. SHA TIN AND BACK TO TSUEN WAN. LIKEWISE, IF NORTH LANTAD IS DEVELOPED, AS I CONFIDENTLY EXPECT IT WILL BE, EVEN IF THERE IS NOT AN AIRPORT THERE, ROAD SYSTEM AND FIXED CROSSINGS WILL NEED TO BE FIRMLY FITTED INTO THE WESTERN CORRIDOR ROAD SYSTEM.
+OF COURSE WE ARE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO MEET UNLIMITED AND UNRESTRAINED TRAFFIC GROWTH FOR EVER BY EXPANDING THE ROAD SYSTEM. TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS, INCLUDING THE EXTENSION OF AREA TRAFFIC CONTROL SCHEMES, WHICH HAS HAD CONSIDERABLE SUCCESS IN WEST KOWLOON, WILL ALSO BE REQUIRED AND THEY WILL TAX THE INGENUITY OF THE TRAFFIC ENGINEERS TO SQUEEZE THE MAXIMUM OUT OF THE ROAD SPACE AVAILABLE. PLENTY OF OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES LIE AHEAD IN THIS FIELD.
+AS OUR POPULATION BECOMES MORE AFFLUENT IT TRAVELS MORE, BOTH ON BUSINESS AND ON LEISURE, AND IT DEMANDS BETTER STANDARDS OF ITS PUBLIC TRANSPORT. THE MARKET IS THERE FOR THE TAKING FOR THOSE OPERATORS ABLE TO MEET THOSE STANDARDS AT REASONABLE COST I HAVE ALREADY SPOKEN OF THE RAIL NETWORK (THE MTR AND THE ELECTRIFIED KCR) WHICH WILL BE THE BACKBONE OF THE SYSTEM IN THE YEARS TO COME. BUT OUR NEW ROAD SYSTEMS, BOTH IN THE URBAN AREAS AND TO AND BETWEEN THE NEW TOWNS, WILL ALSO REQUIRE THE PROVISION OF MORE MODERN, EFFICIENT AND COMFORTABLE BUS SERVICES. THE BUS COMPANIES HAVE AMBITIOUS PLANS TO THIS END WHICH HAVE BEEN AGREED WITH THE GOVERNMENT AND I HOPE THAT IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS RESULTS WILL BEGIN TO SHOW THROUGH MORE AND MORE STRONGLY,
+1 CANNOT LEAVE COMMUNICATIONS WITHOUT MENTIONING ANOTHER DIMENSION THAT IS BEGINNING TO OPEN UP, THAT IS OUR LINKS WITH CHINA, ALREADY HONG KONG AND GUANGZHOU HAVE BEEN BROUGHT CLOSER TOGETHER PHYSICALLY BY THE THROUGH-TRAIN SERVICES, AIR SERVICES, AND THE FERRY AND HOVERFERRY SERVICES. MAJOR NEW INDUSTRIAL ZONES ARE BEING DEVELOPED JUST NORTH OF THE BORDER WHICH ARE BOUND TO DEVELOP LINKS WITH HONG KONG INDUSTRY TO OUR MUTUAL ADVANTAGE. CHINA'S RE-EXPORT AND TRANSHIPMENT TRADE THROUGH HONG KONG IS INCREASING AND WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE.
+ALL THIS, AS TIMES GOES ON, WILL REQUIRE AN IMPROVEMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS ACROSS THE BORDER. JUST AS WE ARE MODERNISING AND ELECTRIFYING OUR RAILWAY, THE GUANGZHOU RAILWAY ADMINISTRATION IS CONSIDERING A SIMILAR DEVELOPMENT. IF THIS COMES TO FRUITION, AS I BELIEVE IT WILL, I LOOK FORWARD TO THE DAY WHEN A MODERN ELECTRIC TRAIN, CARRYING THE KCR COLOURS, GOES INTO SERVICE ETWEEN HUNG HÒA ANH QUANGZHOU.
/+LIKEWISE,