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Question: But why do you let the junior civil servants vote for the provisional legislature?
Governor: Because we've I think behaved sensibly in the decisions that we've made about junior civil servants and we've treated them in this respect exactly as we treated them in respect of other political rights.
Thank you very much indeed.
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Government's response to Airport Authority's agreements
In response to media enquiries, a government spokesman said today (Friday) that it supported the action taken by the Airport Authority (AA) to conclude supplemental agreements with the two main Passenger Terminal Building (PTB) contractors at the new airport at Chek Lap Kok.
"We are aware that the Passenger Terminal Building works have experienced delays. The AA's decision to take positive steps to arrest the problems is the best way forward in the circumstances," the spokesman said.
The agreements settle claims and other outstanding matters with the contractors. These include the re-establishment, in agreement with the contractors, of a works programme that supports April 1998 as the target airport opening date.
As the payment to the two contractors will be within the overall budget of $49.8 billion for the construction of the new airport, there will be no increase in the overall cost of the project as a result of these agreements.
"The commercial settlements with the contractors are the best way forward in the circumstances. Both the AA and the PTB contractors remain committed to programme that targets April 1998 as the opening date for the new airport," he said.
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