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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1984
TO BRING HOME THIS THEME, MR HENDERSON ADDED, THE ORGANISING COMMITTEE HAD INVITED MR JIM HAMMER, HEAD OF THE UNITED KINGDOM FACTORY INSPECTORATE, TO BE THE KEYNOTE SPEAKER.
MR HAMMER WOULD DISCUSS THE MANAGER'S ROLE IN ENSURING ACCEPTABLE STANDARDS OF HEALTH AND SAFETY, NOT AS AN OPTIONAL EXTRA RESPONSIBILITY BUT AS AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT OF EFFICIENT MANAGEMENT IN WHICH COST CONTROL WAS A KEY FACTOR.
ALSO SPEAKING AT THE SEMINAR WERE MR ALLEN LEE, AN INDUSTRIAL IST AND CHAIRMAN OF THE HONG KONG PRODUCTIVITY COUNCIL, AND MR MICHAEL SOMERVILLE, CHAIRMAN OF THE INSURANCE COUNCIL OF HONG KONG.
TRAFFIC WORRIES NOT OVER LEEDS
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ALTHOUGH THE GROWTH IN THE NUMBER OF PRIVATE VEHICLES HAS BEEN CURBED BY FISCAL RESTRAINTS SINCE 1982, IT WOULD BE WRONG TO ASSUME THAT ALL THE WORRIES ABOUT THE POTENTIAL TRAFFIC CONGESTION IN THE FUTURE HAVE DISAPPEARED, MR PETER LEEDS, COMMISSIONER FOR TRANSPORT, SAID TODAY (THURSDAY).
MR LEEDS WAS REVIEWING TRANSPORT POLICY AT A +MEET THE MEDIA+ SESSION.
+THE INCREASED FEES AND TAX HAVE INFLUENCED THE LEVELS OF CAR OWNERSHIP BUT THERE HAS NOT BEEN A CORRESPONDING REDUCTION IN ITS USE, MR LEEDS EXPLAINED.
+FUEL TAX IS RELATED TO USE, BUT AS JOURNEYS IN HONG KONG ARE NOT LONG THE COST OF FUEL IS UNLIKELY TO BE A MAJOR RESTRAINT,+ HE SAID.
+NONE OF THE FISCAL MEASURES CAN BE REGARDED AS THE BEST SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM OF RELIEVING CONGESTION AT PARTICULAR PLACES AT PARTICULAR TIMES.+
MR LEEDS SAID THAT TRANSPORT ECONOMISTS HAD LONG SEEN THE SOLUTION IN A SELECTIVE PRICING SYSTEM THAT COULD RESTRICT THE MOST CONGESTED ROADS TO THOSE TO WHOM THE BENEFITS WERE GREATEST, MEASURED BY THEIR WILLINGNESS TO PAY.
+THIS SYSTEM WOULD REMOVE THE LEAST VALUABLE JOURNEYS SO THAT GOODS VEHICLES AND PUBLIC TRANSPORT AND HIGHER-VALUE PRIVATE CAR JOURNEYS COULD BE MADE MORE QUICKLY, GIVING AN OVERALL NET COMMUNITY BENEFIT IN THE REDUCTION OF TRAVELLING TIME, LOWER FUEL CONSUMPTION, LOWER OPERATING COSTS AND LESS POLLUTION, HE SAID.
+
/+THERE IS