XN000022-1972-03-16 — Page 27

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Thursday, March 16, 1972

"Let us hope this will encourage them into upgrading the quality

of their products and updating their management practices."

He pointed out that the initial amount of $30 million for the

scheme was undoubtedly small, but he had no doubt that further funds would

be made available once the scheme had proven to be a success.

Mr. Lo said he particularly welcomed the Financial Secretary's

departure from his predecessors by putting expenditure before revenue.

He pointed out that up to the present an attempt had been made

to fit public expenditure to available public resources.

Community's Needs

"Now that we have built up this huge surplus, I think it is

time that we turn around to look at the community's needs first and then

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try to find the necessary revenue, he stressed.

"If in any one year the expenditure should exceed the revenue

then we should either spend some of our surplus fund or increase the taxes

or do both," he added.

Mr. Lo said that surplus budgetting and inadequate forward planning were the two main reasons why more schools, housing, recreational and sports

facilities were not available.

On Government's lack of overall long term planning in the areas

of social services, he recalled that he had said last year that had Government tried to assess the community's requirements in education, housing,

medical and health services, recreational and cultural facilities in the same manner as it had done with Hong Kong's requirement for water, then planned them accordingly and set target dates to bring them into being,

things would have been very much different today.

"We have