XN000022-1973-06-20 — Page 22

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Wednesday, June 20, 1973

"On the other hand, any action, other than a disciplinary action,

against the architect clearly had to await the deliberations of the commission,"

he added.

While he shared Mr. Szeto's views on the need for government to tighten

up its controls in particular cases of proposed site formation works, Mr. Robertson

rejected suggestions that the Public Works Department had in the past been

"irresponsible" in accepting statements of authorised architects.

Authorised architects, he said, were a "privileged class" licensed

to practise their profession in Hong Kong.

-

"Their responsibilities are clearly defined under the ordinance which

licenses them, and the whole system of government approvals to plans which the

government is under constant pressure to expedite and simplify will always

depend upon the authorised professional carrying his proper share of the burden

of responsibility," he stressed.

He added:

"We must trust our authorised architects, but I take the point

that we cannot trust all of them all of the time.

"This is where the government's responsibility lies to ensure that

authorised architects as a class are worthy of trust, and that they are generally

performing satisfactorily."

Mr. Robertson re-iterated that the landslides were not the result

of a deliberate land development policy designed to extract the maximum

revenue from land, or to develop hillsides beyond the point of safety.

While the science of soil mechanics was becoming increasingly precise,

the commission had observed that the soils in Hong Kong were not simple

homogeneous materials.

/This meant,