31
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1992
QUESTION:
MR GOVERNOR, I WOULD LIKE TO ASK YOU FOUR QUESTIONS. NUMBER ONE, HOW CAN YOU ENSURE THAT THERE WILL BE 100 NEW UNITS EVERY DAY AND IN A YEAR THAT MEANS, THERE WILL BE A TOTAL OF 36,000 UNITS AND, SECONDLY, IT'S ON WELFARE. IN YOUR WELFARE PACKAGE THERE'S NO MENTION ABOUT HOUSING. SO, WOULD YOU LIKE TO PLEASE TELL ME WHETHER HOUSING IS PART OF SOCIAL WELFARE. THIRDLY, WHY WOULD THE GOVERNMENT ALLOCATE LAND TO BUILD HOUSING FOR THE SANDWICH CLASSES BUT YOU DO NOT ALLOCATE ANY LAND TO BUILD HOUSING TO LOOK AFTER THE NEEDS OF THE LOWER CLASSES AND THE RESIDENTS AFFECTED BY RE-DEVELOPMENT PLANS? FOURTHLY, YOU SAID IN 1997, TWO-THIRDS OF THE HONG KONG PEOPLE WILL OWN THEIR OWN HOMES. DO YOU MEAN TO SELL THE OLD HOUSING UNITS TO THE TENANT? I AM VERY CONCERNED ABOUT HOUSING POLICY.
GOVERNOR:
ME
I KNOW, AND YOU'VE EXPRESSED YOUR VIEWS ABOUT IT TO BEFORE VERY ELOQUENTLY, AND I'M SURE YOU WILL BE ABLE TO AGAIN.
FIRST OF ALL, ACTUALLY WE ARE GOING TO BUILD MORE HOMES A YEAR THAN YOU WERE SUGGESTING. THE TARGET IS 40,000 NOT 36,000. SO WHEN I SAID WE'D BE BUILDING A 100 UNITS A DAY I WAS SLIGHTLY UNDER-ESTIMATING. I THINK THE EXACT FIGURE IS A 107, IF YOU DO THE MATHEMATICS, IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE DELIVER ON THAT HOUSING PROGRAMME, SECONDLY, OF COURSE, HOUSING IS A PART OF AN EFFECTIVE WELFARE POLICY, IT'S MORE THAN THAT BUT IT'S THAT TOO. BUT WHAT I TALKED ABOUT ALSO IN MY SPEECH IS THE IMPORTANCE OF PROVIDING MORE RESIDENTIAL PLACES. THEIR OWN HOUSING FOR PEOPLE LIKE THE DISABLED AND THE MENTALLY HANDICAPPED. MORE PLACES IN CARE AND ATTENTION HOMES FOR THE ELDERLY, ABOUT MORE THAN 5,000 MORE BETWEEN NOW AND 1997. SO WE HAVE TO THINK OF THEIR HOUSING AS WELL.
THIRDLY, OF COURSE, THE MAIN PART OF OUR LAND ALLOCATION PROGRAMME IS то PROVIDE PUBLIC HOUSING, TO PROVIDE HOUSING FOR THE HOUSING AUTHORITY AND HOUSING FOR THE HOUSING SOCIETY. THE AMOUNT THAT I MENTIONED IN RELATION TO THE SANDWICH CLASS IS ONLY A VERY, VERY, VERY SMALL PROPORTION OF THAT. AND LASTLY, I DO THINK THAT BY 1997 WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO BE LIVING IN A COMMUNITY IN WHICH ABOUT 60% OF PEOPLE ARE OWNING THEIR OWN HOME, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT THE HOUSING NEEDS OF THE OTHER 40% AREN'T JUST AS IMPORTANT, WHICH IS WHY WE NEED TO CONTINUE TO HAVE A LARGE AND WELL MANAGED PUBLIC HOUSING STOCK.
QUESTION:
MR PATTEN, I AM ALSO VERY CONCERNED ABOUT HOUSING. IN PARAGRAPH 59 OF YOUR POLICY SPEECH, YOU MENTION SOME ARRANGEMENT ABOUT RESIDENTS OF THE TEMPORARY HOUSING AREAS, BUT DURING THE SEVERAL MONTHS YOU ARE HERE, IT SEEMS THAT YOU HAVE NOT VISITED ANY OF THESE TEMPORARY HOUSING AREAS. I WOULD LIKE YOU TO KNOW THAT A LOT OF THESE HOUSING AREAS ARE VERY OLD. THEY WERE BUILT MORE THAN TEN YEARS AGO, FOR EXAMPLE, PING SHEK AND SHUN LEE TEMPORARY HOUSING AREAS, THEY ARE BUILT OVER TEN YEARS AGO AND THE RESIDENTS HAVE TO LIVE IN THE WOODEN STRUCTURES PLAGUED BY TERMITES. SO, I THINK IT IS A GOOD IDEA IF
YOU VISIT THESE PLACES AND SEE WHAT THEY ARE LIKE AND TO INCREASE YOUR KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THESE HOUSING AREAS.
/GOVERNOR: AS