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THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 1994
MRS MIRIAM LAU (THROUGH INTERPRETER): MR GOVERNOR, IN ORDER TO SOLVE THE TRAFFIC CONGESTION PROBLEM IN HONG KONG, WELL WE REALLY NEED TO DEVELOP A MASS TRANSIT SYSTEM FOR EXAMPLE RAIL SYSTEM AND THAT POINT WAS ALSO MENTIONED BY YOU IN YOUR OPENING STATEMENT. WE HAVE THE RAILWAY DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY ISSUED LAST YEAR AND MANY OPTIONS WERE MENTIONED BUT THE EARLIEST POSSIBLE DATE WILL BE 2001 BEFORE WE CAN SEE THE FIRST LINK IS IMPLEMENTED. WILL THE ADMINISTRATION CONSIDER ADVANCING THE IMPLEMENTATION DATE AND IN ORDER TO EXPEDITE THESE PROJECTS, WILL THE ADMINISTRATION CONSIDER PRIVATE PARTICIPATION?
GOVERNOR: THE ADMINISTRATION WOULD LIKE LITTLE MORE THAN TO BE ABLE TO ADVANCE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RAILWAY DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY AND I THINK IT WOULD BE NATURAL FOR THIS COMMUNITY TO USE PRIVATE SECTOR INVESTMENT TO SECURE SOME OF THE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES IN THE RAILWAY DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY. I THINK THE HONOURABLE LADY WILL KNOW THE WE'VE VIRTUALLY
AND
SEQUENCE OF EVENTS WHICH MUST KNOW TAKE PLACE. COMPLETED CONSULTATIONS ON THE STRATEGY, WE MUST THEN CONSIDER THE VIEWS OF THE COMMUNITY AND THOSE VIEWS HAVE BEEN PRESENTED VERY VIGOROUSLY. WE MUST THEN PRESENT OUR ASSESSMENT TO THIS COUNCIL TO THE COMMUNITY AND BEGIN A DIALOGUE WITH OUR CHINESE COLLEAGUES, SINCE MOST OF THESE MATTERS WILL INVOLVE IMPLEMENTATION AFTER 1997, AND IT WOULD BE CRAZY TO TRY TO IMPLEMENT A RAILWAY DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY FOR HONG KONG IN ANY EVENT WITHOUT TAKING ACCOUNT OF WHAT'S HAPPENING ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BORDER. IF WE CAN MAKE RAPID PROGRESS IN THOSE DISCUSSIONS, CONCEIVABLY A LITTLE MORE RAPID PROGRESS THAN WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO MAKE IN, FOR EXAMPLE THE CASE OF THE AIRPORT, THEN I WOULD WELCOME IT. THE ADMINISTRATION WOULD WELCOME IT AND WE COULD GET ON AS RAPIDLY AS POSSIBLE WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SORT OF RAILWAY SYSTEM WHICH THE WHOLE OF HONG KONG NEEDS, NOT LEAST THE INHABITANTS OF THE NORTH-WEST NEW TERRITORIES, TSEUNG KWAN O AND OTHER PARTS OF THE TERRITORY.
MR
MR LEE WING-TAT (THROUGH INTERPRETER): THANK YOU MR PRESIDENT. GOVERNOR, I DON'T KNOW WHETHER YOU HAVE TRIED THIS, THAT IS GET ON A BUS IN THE MORNING AND THEN TAKE THE MTR, PERHAPS YOU DON'T NEED THIS AND SO YOU ARE VERY RELAXED WHEN YOU ANSWER ALL THESE QUESTIONS, BUT PLEASE DON'T FORGET OVER ONE MILLION PEOPLE HAVE TO TAKE BUSES AND THEN TRANSFER TO THE MTR EVERY DAY.
I'M VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THE AIRPORT RAILWAY. AT PRESENT THERE IS NO FINANCING AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE BRITISH AND THE CHINESE AUTHORITIES. TWO DAYS AGO THE MTRC MANAGING DIRECTOR SAID THAT IF THE ADMINISTRATION IS WILLING TO INJECT SOME MORE MONEY INTO THE MTRC, THE MTRC WILL HAVE THE CAPABILITY TO BUILD ONE SECTION OF THE AIRPORT RAILWAY, THAT IS TSING YI TO CENTRAL, ACCORDING TO MY OWN PROJECTION. THAT WAS ALSO MENTIONED IN CTS2 IN 1989, BUT WE USED A DIFFERENT NAME THEN. UNFORTUNATELY WE CHANGED THE NAME TO AIRPORT RAILWAY AND THE CHINESE AUTHORITIES DON'T LIKE THIS NAME. SO MR GOVERNOR, CAN YOU TELL US WHETHER YOU WILL CONSIDER THIS SUGGESTION FROM THE MTRC 90
OUR CITIZENS WON'T HAVE TO SUFFER SO MUCH EVERY MORNING?
THAT YOU.
THANK
/GOVERNOR: