N
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1993
"ALTHOUGH FIVE MILLION
FIVE-CENT
COINS WERE PRODUCED AND SHIPPED TO HONG KONG IN 1980, NONE OF THESE WAS EVER PUT INTO CIRCULATION AS DEMAND DROPPED AND THEY WERE SUBSEQUENTLY RTURNED TO THE MINT, THE SPOKESMAN SAID.
"
"PRIOR TO THIS, FIVE-CENT COINS WERE MINTED IN BOTH 1978 AND 1979, THE RESPECTIVE PRODUCTION QUANTITIES BEING 10 MILLION AND FOUR MILLION.
"OF THESE 14 MILLION COINS, 9.76 MILLION WERE ISSUED, BUT IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO TELL FROM THE STOCK RECORDS WHETHER IN FACT BOTH 1978 AND 1979 DATED COINS WERE ACTUALLY PUT INTO CIRCULATION.
"THE MINTING OF COINS BEARING THE QUEEN'S EFFIGY MAY HAVE COME TO AN END, BUT THERE IS STILL AN OPPORTUNITY TO PURCHASE THE 1988 SETS COMPRISING SEVEN COINS RANGING FROM THE FIVE-CENT то THE FIVE-DOLLAR COIN", THE SPOKESMAN SAID.
BRILLIANT
LIMITED QUANTITIES OF BOTH THE PROOF AND UNCIRCULATED 1988 COIN COLLECTION ARE STILL AVAILABLE AT DESIGNATED BRANCHES OF THE HONGKONGBANK AND THE OVERSEAS TRUST BANK.
ACTION IN HAND ON CAISSON SAFETY
IN RESPONSE TO PRESS ENQUIRIES REGARDING ALLEGATIONS AGAINST THE LABOUR DEPARTMENT'S CONSULTATION ON HAND-DUG CAISSONS, A LABOUR DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN SAID TODAY (SATURDAY } THAT THE PUBLIC CONSULTATION STARTED IN NOVEMBER 1992.
LETTERS INVITING VIEWS ON HAND-DUG CAISSONS WERE SENT TO THREE EMPLOYERS ASSOCIATIONS, RIGHT PROFESSIONAL BODIES, THREE EMPLOYEES' TRADE UNIONS, AND TWO CONCERN GROUPS OF CAISSON WORKERS INCLUDING THE CONCERN GROUP ON PNEUMOCONTOSTS AND THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE RIGHTS OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS VICTIMS.
LABOUR DEPARTMENT OFFICIALS ALSO MET TWO DELEGATIONS TO THEIR VIEWS ON HAND-DUG CAISSONS.
LISTENING
AS THE SUGGESTION TO BAN HAND-DUG CAISSONS INVOLVES A TERRITORY-WIDE IMPACT ON THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY AND THE LIVELIHOOD OF CAISSON WORKERS, THE GOVERNMENT HAS TO WORK OUT A LONG-TERM STRATEGY ON PRACTICABLE STEPS TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE.
FOLLOWING LABOUR DEPARTMENT'S PUBLIC CONSULTATION, THE HOUSING AUTHORITY HAS ENDORSED THE RESTRICTION OF USE OF HAND-DUG CAISSONS FAR AS POSSIBLE.
AS
THE WORKS BRANCH HAD ALSO EXPRESSED THEIR INTENTION TO REPLACE HAND-DUG CAISSONS BY MACHINERY EXCEPT IN CASES WHERE THE USE OF MANUAL WORKERS IS SAFER THAN USING MACHINERY.
IN ADDITION, A DRAFT CODE OF PRACTICE ON HAND-DUG CAISSON SAFETY, PREPARED BY A TRIPARTITE COMMITTEE, IS NOW BEING FINALISED.
/AS REGARDS