XN000022-1972-03-29 — Page 33

Wednesday, March 29, 1972

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He refuted the statement made by the Hon. H.J.C. Browne which

suggested that Government restricted the amount of land made available

for sale in order to secure excessively high premia.

"This, of course, is not so. The allegation has been denied

a number of times in recent years and I am surprised to find that the view

is still held by my Honourable friend," he said.

He assured Hr. Browne that in the urban areas his department

was offering as much land as it possibly could for sale by public auction

and at no time had withheld a land sale to achieve excessively high

revenue, he added.

Sales Programme

The Sales Frogramme for the next six months from April to September

1972 contained 66 lots in the urban areas with a total area of over one

million square feet covering residential, industrial and commercial property,

he said.

"It is hoped that a somewhat similar programme will be possible

in the following six months from October 1972 to March 1973.

"But it will not be possible to keep up this rate of sale indefinitely

as suitable sites in the Urban Area are becoming fewer and those which can

be found are more difficult to develop," he said.

The Urban Area was becoming more and more congested and therefore,

for the future, one had to look to the New Territories for further expansion,

he pointed out.

Ample land was becoming available at, for instance, Castle Peak

where over 300,000 square feet of industrial land was available for sale.

/Referring.....