Chairman's Statement (Continued)
INLAND LOT 8849, TSAT TSZ MUI ROAD, NORTH POINT
The exchange of Inland Lot 5532 and Inland Lot 7178 for a new site, Inland Lot 8849, has been completed by the joint venture company which is 40 per cent owned by the Group and 60 per cent owned by Swire Properties Limited. The portion of Tsat Tsz Mui Road between the old lots has been closed and superstructure construction work is now in progress on the whole of the new site.
INLAND LOT 7550, KING'S ROAD, NORTH POINT
Work has commenced on the construction of the basement and foundations of a commercial/office development on Inland Lot 7550 by the joint venture company which is 50 per cent owned by the Group and 50 per cent owned by Swire Properties Limited. Negotiations are continuing with Government on the terms for the modification of the lease.
ABERDEEN INLAND LOT NOS. 338 AND 339, WONG CHUK HANG ROAD, ABERDEEN
The Group vacated Aberdeen Inland Lot Nos. 338 and 339 on 31st August, 1995 and delivered vacant possession to the joint venture development company
which is 50 per cent owned by the Group and 50 per cent owned by Swire Properties Limited. Site investigation works have been completed and demolition works have commenced. General Building Plans are being prepared for an industrial building to be developed on the site.
FUTURE OUTLOOK
With the commencement of the Company's new three-year franchise on 1st September, 1995, 14 routes were withdrawn from our network. The Company is continuing to review bus operations and is implementing a programme of service improvements and rationalisation measures to counteract the effects of competition and to improve operating efficiency.
Traffic congestion continues to disrupt our services causing inconvenience to passengers, continued problems for our scheduling staff and increases the attractiveness of non-road based public transport. The Company is therefore awaiting with interest the measures which Government intends to implement to address traffic congestion following the public consultation exercise earlier this year. We will also attempt to persuade Government to devote more efforts to the design and implementation of traffic management schemes to reduce traffic delays and promote bus priority schemes.
Expansion of services to cater for the new and increasing developments on Hong Kong Island, including Yiu Tung Estate, Siu Sai Wan, Ap Lei Chau and Chai Wan East should help to offset the loss of passengers to other public transport modes. The Company is also planning to expand its operation of Cross-Harbour services.
AIRPORT Express coach SERVICE ROUTE A20
On 17th September, 1995, we commenced our first sole operation cross-harbour service with the introduction of our new Airport Express Coach Service, Route A20, from Central (Exchange Square) to Kai Tak Airport. This is the only airport service which directly serves the Pacific Place development including Cathay Pacific's City-Check Office. This service has been introduced with the full co-operation of Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong's premiere airline, and its sister company Swire Properties Ltd. and it is hoped that the route will prove popular with air passengers and airport employees alike and will help reduce traffic congestion at the airport.
APPRECIATION
Under the Public Bus Services Ordinance, the persons holding the positions of Commissioner for Transport and Deputy Secretary for Transport (Transport Services) are appointed by the Governor to sit on the Board of the Company. On 14th November, 1994, Mr. Isaac CHOW Yiu Nam was appointed by the Governor to replace Mrs. Carrie YAU TSANG Ka Lai, J.P. as Deputy Secretary for Transport (Transport Services). On 3rd July, 1995, Mrs. Lily YAM KWAN Pui-ying, J.P. was appointed by the Governor to replace Mr. Rafael HUI Si-yan, J.P. as Commissioner for Transport. On behalf of the shareholders and my fellow Directors I would like to express our appreciation of their participation in the deliberations of the Board.
In conclusion, I would like to thank our loyal staff for their hard work and dedication to serving the travelling public during a very challenging year.
Hong Kong, 10th November, 1995
9
NGAN Shing-kwan
Chairman
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