8
At their recent meeting, TPB members also noted that reclamation projects will come under public scrutiny again as and when they are submitted to the Legislative Council for inclusion as public works items and for funding approval.
TPB members welcomed the new administrative arrangement as a significant improvement to the consultation process on reclamations in Hong Kong. They considered that the sequence and the way that TPB, Exco and LegCo will be consulted will provide an effective check-and-balance mechanism on future reclamation proposals.
Members noted that as part of the recommendations of Metroplan, the Government is in the process of planning seven major reclamation projects in the Metro area. All of these are long-term conceptual plans and the Government has not made any commitment on them because a decision on these projects can only be taken after completion of various detailed studies to assess their implications on land uses, environment and other aspects.
At the meeting members also accepted the need to provide more land to meet the growth of Hong Kong.
End/Thursday, November 23, 1995
Provisional statistics of retail sales for September
According to the provisional figures released today (Thursday) by the Census and Statistics Department, the value of total retail sales in September 1995, estimated at $17.4 billion, increased by 4% when compared with September 1994.
After discounting the effect of price changes over the period, total retail sales dropped by 2% in volume.
The slight decline in volume of total retail sales in September 1995 continued to be attributable mainly to a considerable drop in sales of motor vehicles, by 26% in value or by 31% in volume.