HE SAID THAT SINCE 1951 ABOUT ONE MILLION A DECADE.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1983
THE POPULATION HAD INCREASED BY THIS WAS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE AND TO RESULT IN A POPULATION OF ABOUT SEVEN MILLION IN HONG KONG BY THE END OF THE CENTURY.
OF THIS TOTAL, ABOUT 6.2 MILLION WOULD PROBABLY BE ACCOMMODATED WITHIN AREAS EITHER ALREADY DEVELOPED OR ALREADY PLANNED FOR DEVELOPMENT.
FURTHER NEW DEVELOPMENT CAPACITY WOULD THEREFORE HAVE TO BE FOUND TO ACCOMMODATE ABOUT 800 000 PEOPLE DURING THE 1990'S.
AS FAR AS JOBS WERE CONCERNED, MR CHAN SAID, THE WORK FORCE WOULD PROBABLY INCREASE FROM ABOUT 2.4 MILLION IN 1981 TO 3.4 MILLION IN THE YEAR 2001. WHILE THERE MAY BE SOME SHIFT TOWARDS MORE EMPLOYMENT IN THE COMMERCIAL SECTOR. DEPENDENCE ON THE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY SEEMED LIKELY TO CONTINUE.
MR CHAN SAID THE POTENTIAL SUPPLY, AS WELL AS POTENTIAL DEMAND FOR LAND, HAD ALSO TO BE CONSIDERED,
HE SAID FIVE DETAILED SUB-REGIONAL STUDIES HAD BEEN UNDERTAKEN, WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF HIGHLY QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL CONSULTANTS, AND WERE NEARLY COMPLETED.
+ IN SUCH A SMALL AND ALREADY HIGHLY DEVELOPED PLACE AS HONG KONG, THERE MIGHT APPEAR AT FIRST GLANCE TO BE LITTLE ROOM FOR FURTHER MAJOR DEVELOPMENT, MR CHAN SAID.
AFTER ALL, WEREN'T HONG KONG ISLAND, KOWLOON AND NEW KOWLOON ALREADY REALLY FULL AND ALL THE OTHER EASILY DEVELOPABLE AREAS IN THE NEW TERRITORIES ALREADY BEING TURNED INTO NEW TOWNS?
+BUT A QUICK ROUND-UP OF THE PRINCIPAL FINDINGS OF THE FIVE SUB-REGIONAL STUDIES (NORTH-WEST NEW TERRITORIES, THE NORTH-EAST NEW TERRITORIES, THE MAIN URBAN AREAS AND HARBOUR, NORTH LANTAU AND JUNK BAY-SAI KUNG) SHOWED THIS WAS NOT SO, HE SAID.
MR CHAN SAID OF THE NORTH-WEST NEW TERRITORIES THE GENERAL CONCLUSION WAS THAT ABOUT 700 000 PEOPLE COULD BE ACCOMMODATED IN THE TIN SHUI WAI-DEEP BAY AREA WEST OF YUEN LONG. THERE WAS ALREADY A COMMITMENT TO AN INITIAL DEVELOPMENT FOR UP TO 135 000 PEOPLE IN THE AREA AND SOME GROWTH WAS ALSO EXPECTED TO OCCUR BETWEEN YUEN LONG AND TUEN MUN. TO MEET THE TRANSPORT NEEDS THAT MIGHT BE GENERATED, A NEW HIGHWAY BETWEEN YUEN LONG AND TUEN MUN AND NEW ROAD AND RAIL LINKS FROM AU TAU TO TSUEN WAN WOULD PROBABLY BE REQUIRED.
IN THE NORTH-EAST NEW TERRITORIES, UP TO 605 000 MORE PEOPLE COULD BE ACCOMMODATED IN EXTENSIONS TO TAI PO AND FANLING-SHEK WU HUI, AND IN FURTHER DEVELOPMENT AT MA ON SHAN AND THREE FATHOMS COVE. BECAUSE OF ITS NATURALLY BEAUTIFUL TOPOGRAPHY AND THE ENCLOSED AREA OF WATER AT TOLO. GREAT CARE HAD TO BE EXERCISED TO PREVENT THE SUB-REGION BEING ADVERSELY AFFECTED BY FURTHER URBANISATION AND UNCONTROLLED AGRICULTURE.
ADEQUATE TREATMENT OF SEWAGE AND OTHER EFFLUENTS WOULD BE REQUIRED IF FURTHER MAJOR DEVELOPMENT WERE TO TAKE PLACE. NEW TRANSPORT LINKS BETWEEN SHA TIN AND KOWLOON - WHICH WAS A BOTTLENECK IN THE TERRITORY'S TRANSPORT SYSTEM WOULD ALSO BE NEEDED.
/LR CHAN