MONDAY, OCTOBER 10, 1994
GOVERNOR:
15
—
-
BUT I
I VERY MUCH AGREE WITH THE LAST POINT THAT YOU MADE AND I WAS VERY SYMPATHETIC TO THE FIRST POINT YOU MADE AS WELL VERY STRONGLY AGREED WITH THE LAST POINT. WE DO SUFFER, IN HONG KONG, INCREASINGLY, FROM AWFUL PROBLEMS OF TRAFFIC CONGESTION. NOW IT'S ONLY OF LIMITED COMFORT TO KNOW THAT THE PROBLEMS ARE WORSE IN A NUMBER OF OTHER PLACES - WORSE IN BANGKOK, WORSE IN A NUMBER OF NORTH AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN CITIES. THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE CAN BE COMPLACENT ABOUT THE PROBLEMS HERE AND UNLESS WE DO SOMETHING, THE PROBLEMS ARE GOING TO GET WORSE.
-
AT PRESENT, GIVEN THE AFFLUENCE OF OUR COMMUNITY, WE ACTUALLY HAVE RATHER LOW CAR OWNERSHIP IN THE COMMUNITY BUT WE HAVE A VERY HIGH NUMBER OF CARS FOR THE LIMITED AMOUNT OF ROADS THAT WE'VE GOT.
SO IF, AS ONE MIGHT EXPECT, CAR OWNERSHIP CONTINUES TO INCREASE AT 10% A YEAR, WHICH IT HAS BEEN, OUR TRAFFIC CONGESTION PROBLEMS ARE GOING TO GET WORSE AND WORSE AND WORSE.
PART OF THE ANSWER HAS GOT TO BE THE PROVISION OF EVEN MORE EXTENSIVE, EVEN BETTER, PUBLIC TRANSPORT, BOTH MASS TRANSIT AND BUSES. WE'LL BE PRODUCING A CONSULTATION DOCUMENT ON THIS IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS AND IF YOU THINK THAT ANYTHING THAT I HAVE DONE IN THE LAST TWO YEARS HAS BEEN CONTROVERSIAL, YOU WAIT UNTIL THE DEBATE STARTS ON DEALING WITH TRAFFIC CONGESTION AND TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT. BECAUSE IN MY EXPERIENCE, THOSE ARE ISSUES WHICH PUSH UP THE TEMPERATURE IN ANY COMMUNITY.
OF COURSE THE FRAMEWORK FOR OUR PROPOSALS ON RAILWAY DEVELOPMENT IS THE RAILWAY DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY, WHICH IS PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT IF YOU'RE DISCUSSING, FOR INSTANCE, THE MOVEMENT OF FREIGHT IN AND AROUND HONG KONG, OR IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THE GREAT IMPORTANCE OF ENSURING THAT PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN THE NORTH-WEST NEW TERRITORIES, OR INDEED ELSEWHERE IN THE NEW TERRITORIES, HAVE RATHER BETTER ACCESS TO THE CENTRE OF HONG KONG. THE RAILWAY DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY IS PRECISELY THE SORT OF SUBJECT WHICH YOU WERE REFERRING TO. EVEN THOUGH WE NEED TO PLAN FOR IT BEFORE 1997, THE INVESTMENT AND THE COSTS WILL BE NEARLY ALL AFTER 1997. IT'S A SUBJECT THAT WE'LL WANT TO TALK TO OUR CHINESE COLLEAGUES ABOUT AND, I HOPE, HAVE THEIR UNDERSTANDING.
I SAID IN MY POLICY ADDRESS THAT ON THE INFRASTRUCTURE
AS A
WHOLE I THOUGHT THAT WE NEEDED TO BE MORE POSITIVE IN LOOKING, WITH GUANGDONG AND WITH THE CHINESE AUTHORITIES, AT THE WAY WE DEVELOP THINGS IN HONG KONG. I'M SURE THAT'S RIGHT. I'M SURE THAT'S RIGHT FOR THE REGION, I'M SURE IT'S RIGHT FOR CHINA AS A WHOLE, AND I HOPE WE CAN GET ON WITH THAT SOONER RATHER THAN LATER.
THERE ARE OTHER SUBJECTS WHERE WE, AGAIN QUITE PROPERLY, HAVE ΤΟ DISCUSS ISSUES WITH THE FUTURE SOVEREIGN. THE OLD AGE PENSION SCHEME IS ONE OF THEM. AND I HOPE THAT ON ALL THESE SUBJECTS WE CAN RESPECT ONE ANOTHER'S GOOD INTENTIONS AND NOT ENDLESSLY HUNT FOR THE SNAG OR THE PROBLEM, BUT DO WHAT HONG KONG HAS ALWAYS BEEN SO GOOD AT, WHICH IS ROLLING ITS SLEEVES UP AND GETTING ON WITH THINGS. THAT'S WHAT HAS MADE THIS COMMUNITY SO SUCCESSFUL AND I HOPE THAT'S WHAT WILL CONTINUE TO KEEP THIS COMMUNITY SUCCESSFUL FOR THE FUTURE.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH INDEED. I HOPE SOME OF YOU WILL COME ALONG AND ASK QUESTIONS NEXT YEAR AND I HOPE WE'LL HAVE EVEN MORE SUCCESSES AND FEWER PROBLEMS TO TALK ABOUT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH INDEED.
/16