THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 1983
12
MR BROWN SAID: LIFE IS NOW MORE COMPLICATED AND IT IS CSARY TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT LONG TERM TRENDS AND OUR BUDGETARY CIES MUST BE BASED ON PROPER PLANNING FOR OUR LONG-TERM
FUTURE.+
HE ALSO STRESSED THAT THE DEMAND FOR MORE AND BETTER SERVICES IN KEEPING WITH A HIGHER LIVING STANDARD OVERALL, AND THE NEED TO SAFEGUARD THAT RISING STANDARD IN YEARS TO COME, MADE IT INEVITABLE THAT THE ROLE OF THE GOVERNMENT MUST INCREASE IN RELATIVE TERMS.
+ THE SPRAWL OF URBANISED AREAS INTO THE NEW TERRITORIES WITH THE NECESSARY, COSTLY INFRASTRUCTURE OF TRANSPORT, LAND AND CIVIL ENGINEERING AND WATER IS ONLY ONE ELEMENT IN THIS EQUATION,+ MR BROWN ADDED.
IDEA OF MAN-MADE ISLAND FOR AIRPORT RAISED
****
THE HON K.C. CHAN SUGGESTED THAT THE IDEAL LOCATION FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF A REPLACEMENT AIRPORT WOULD BE ON AN ISLAND MORE THAN TEN KILOMETRES EAST OF CAPE D'AGUILAR ON THE EAST OF HONG KONG ISLAND.
BUT HE WAS QUICK TO ADD THAT THIS WAS ONLY A DREAM AS NO ISLAND EXISTED ON THE TEN-FATHOM SEA THERE.
HOWEVER, HE POINTED OUT, THAT HE LEARNED FROM AN ARTICLE IN THE CHINESE PRESS OF JAPAN'S MAN-MADE ISLANDS OUTSIDE TOKYO, KOBE AND OSAKA.
THESE MAN-MADE ISLANDS SERVED VARIOUS PURPOSES, SUCH AS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, CONTAINER AND OCEAN TERMINALS, INDUSTRIAL ESTATES, RECREATION AREAS, AND FOR ANTI-POLLUTION REASONS, POWER STATIONS AND COAL STORAGE.
+ IF IT IS TECHNICALLY POSSIBLE IN HONG KONG, WE SHOULD LOOK INTO THE POSSIBILITY OF WANGLING FROM THE SEA SUFFICIENT LAND, NOT ONLY FOR THE REPLACEMENT AIRPORT AND ASSOCIATED INDUSTRIES, BUT ALSO TO FORM A BANK OF FLAT LAND.
+DEPENDING ON HOW WE MAKE USE OF THIS SCARCE ITEM, IT MAY
HELP TO MAKE THE NEW AIRPORT PROJECT VIABLE.+
HE PROPOSED +A CRASH PROGRAMME TO RECLAIM A THREE-KILOMETRE PAND OF LAND BOUNDED IN THE NORTH BY TAI TAU CHAU AND IN THE SOUTH BY KAU PEI CHAU ON THE EAST OF HONG KONG ISLAND+.
/THE LAND