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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1984
REFERRING TO THE ISLAND EASTERN CORRIDOR, SIR EDWARD SAID THAT TRAFFIC CONDITIONS IN THE AREA HAD BEEN IMPROVED, AND THAT THE SECOND STAGE WOULD OPEN IN MID-1985.
HE SAID THAT THE MAJOR DEVELOPMENT IN PUBLIC TRANSPORT NEXT YEAR WOULD BE THE OPENING OF THE FIRST PART OF THE MASS TRANSIT RAILWAY'S ISLAND LINE FROM CHAI WAN TO ADMIRALTY, FOLLOWED A YEAR LATER BY THE SECOND STAGE FROM ADMIRALTY TO SHEUNG WAN.
THE LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT SYSTEM TO BE BUILT AND OPERATED BY THE KOWLOON-CANTON RAILWAY CORPORATION, WOULD INITIALLY SERVE TUEN MUN AND YUEN LONG, LATER EXTENDING TO TIN SHUT WAI.
THERE WAS THE POSSIBILITY OF A FURTHER EXTENSION TO TSUEN WAN WHEN THE TRAFFIC GROWTH FORECASTS JUSTIFY IT.
TWO NEW BRIDGES, HE SAID, AT SHA TAU KOK AND MAN KAM TO, WERE CLOSE TO COMPLETION, AND WOULD IMPROVE ROAD LINKS WITH CHINA.
SIR EDWARD DESCRIBED THE GOVERNMENT'S PROGRAMME ON NEW TOWN DEVELOPMENT AS +CHALLENGING+, INVOLVING THE PROVISION OF INFRASTRUCTURE, HOUSING AND COMMUNITY FACILITIES WITH AN ANNUAL EXPENDITURE EXCEEDING $5 BILLION.
THE BUILDING OF THE SIX NEW TOWNS, HE SAID, WAS ALREADY WELL ADVANCED, AND BY THE EARLY 1990'S THEY WILL HOUSE NEARLY THREE MILLION PEOPLE.
+ IN HUMAN TERMS, THIS MEANS ABOUT 200 000 PEOPLE WILL MOVE TO NEW HOMES EACH YEAR, HE SAID.
APART FROM WORK ON THE NEW TOWNS, +OUR EFFORTS IN THE EARLY 1990'S ARE LIKELY TO BE APPLIED INITIALLY TO RECLAMATION AND OTHER WORKS AROUND THE HARBOUR, HE SAID.
+THIS WILL ASSIST THE GROWTH AND DIVERSIFICATION OF OUR ECONOMY BY ENHANCING PORT, BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL FACILITIES, WILL ENABLE ROAD AND RAIL SYSTEMS TO BE EXTENDED AND IMPROVED, AND WILL HELP RELIEVE SOME OF THE PRESSURES OF POPULATION GROWTH.+
HE SAID THAT A PORT DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY STUDY, WHICH WOULD ASSESS REQUIREMENTS UP TO THE YEAR 2001, AND DETERMINE HOW ANY SHORTFALL IN FACILITIES COULD BEST BE MÉT, WAS UNDERWAY, AND SHOULD BE COMPLETED WITHIN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS.
TO EXPAND THE EXISTING CONTAINER TERMINALS, 15 ADDITIONAL HECTARES OF LAND WOULD BE PROVIDED FOR BY RECLAIMING THE KWAI CHUNG CREEK BY MID-1987.
SIR EDWARD WAS PLEASED BY THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON LAND SUPPLY'S FORECAST THAT THE SUPPLY OF LAND OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS WOULD BE MORE THAN ADEQUATE TO MEET MOST PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR NEEDS.
/THE DRAFT