XN000022-1972-11-01 — Page 24

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Wednesday, November 1, 1972

He made three points for consideration by the Government. The first

concerns the standard of accommodation of 35 square feet per person being

used in low-cost and the latest resettlement housing.

In a city of rising standards and expectations, he said it is

important to improve this standard of accommodation from time to time in

order to avoid what some experts have called the mass production of future

slums.

Secondly, Dr. Chung said the present method of allocation of housing

on a "first come first served" basis has a "great inherent drawback" of not

relating location of work with that of residence.

"A major improvement would be achieved if allocation of housing

could be made by matching location of work with location of housing for the

applicants.

"This approach will not only minimise the reluctance of potential

inhabitants and potential factories to move out to new townships in the

New Territories but will also reduce demand for the already over-taxed public

transport particularly during rush hours," he said.

The last point concerns productivity in Hong Kong's building

construction industry. Dr. Chung said during the past five years, building

construction costs had nearly doubled whilst there had been little or no

progress in labour productivity in the building industry.

Compared to the export manufacturing industries, mechanisation in

the building industry has been minimal during the past decade, he said.

This unsatisfactory