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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26, 1989
HE QUESTIONED WHETHER THE SETTING UP OF ORGANISATIONS (QUANGOS) REALLY HAD THE PREDICTED
QUASI IMPACT.
NON-GOVERNMENT
FROM
ARGUING THAT THE DISADVANTAGES OF QUANGOS WERE MANY CRONYISM TO WASTE AND INEFFICIENCY TO CORRUPTION
MR LI SAID THAT PUBLIC REPRESENTATION ON QUANGO BOARDS SOMETIMES ACTUALLY REDUCED THEIR RESPONSIVENESS TO THE NEEDS OF THE PUBLIC.
HE SAID WHILE LEGCO MEMBERS HAD A RESPONSIBILITY TO MONITOR THESE BODIES REGULARLY, THERE WERE OTHER QUESTIONS POSED BY QUANGOS THAT EXTENDED BEYOND THE VITAL NEED FOR FISCAL ACCOUNTABILITY FINANCE COMMITTEE.
ΤΟ THE
MR LI SAID THAT RATHER THAN FOCUS ON ESTABLISHING QUANGO AFTER QUANGO, IT WAS PERHAPS TIME THE GOVERNMENT CAME TO GRIPS WITH ITS OWN RHETORIC ON PRIVATISATION.
HE NOTED THAT WITH A NET PROFIT OF $560 MILLION A YEAR, THE KOWLOON-CANTON RAILWAY CORPORATION WOULD SEEM RIPE FOR PRIVATISATION.
"EVEN A PARTIAL SALE OF THE GOVERNMENT'S SHAREHOLDING, AT A GOOD MULTIPLE, WOULD YIELD A BILLION OR MORE THAT COULD BE RE-INVESTED IN THE NEXT GENERATION OF INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS ESSENTIAL FOR FUTURE GROWTH,'
+
"BY THE TIME PRIVATISATION OF THE KCRC HAS BEGUN, TRANSIT RAILWAY CORPORATION OUGHT TO BE READY," HE ADDED.
THE MASS
WAS
MR LI NOTED THAT, PHILOSOPHICALLY, ACTION ON PRIVATISATION MUCH MORE IN KEEPING WITH THE LAISSEZ FAIRE PRINCIPLES AND THERE WAS NO END OF GOOD AND WORTHY TASKS THE GOVERNMENT COULD TAKE ON.
"BUT UNLESS HONG KONG WAS PREPARED TO ABANDON ITS COMMITMENT TO LOW TAXATION, THE TERRITORY SIMPLY COULD NOT AFFORD ΤΟ LOOK TO THE GOVERNMENT TO DO THEM ALL.' MR LI SAID.
"
"THERE HAS TO BE SELF-RESTRAINT. HONG KONG MUST TRY TO CURB THE GROWTH OF THE GOVERNMENT. THUS, IT MUST ALSO LIMIT WHAT IT ASKS THE GOVERNMENT TO DO," HE ADDED.
INVOLVEMENT,
FROM
"THE EMPHASIS MUST SHIFT BACK FROM PUBLIC SECTOR ACTION ΤΟ PRIVATE SECTOR INITIATIVE. FROM BUREAUCRATIC INTERFERENCE COMMUNITY
GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION
TO
то
SELF-REGULATION, FROM INCREASING DEPENDENCE TO SELF-RELIANCE.
WILL
"BUT GETTING THIS CONCEPT ACROSS TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC REQUIRE A MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE PROGRAMME OF CIVIC EDUCATION THAN HONG KONG NOW HAS. THE PRESENT TREND IS IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION AND IS LIKELY TO GAIN IN MOMENTUM AS POLITICAL RHETORIC AND PUBLIC POLICY RAISE EXPECTATIONS," MR LI SAID.
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