XN000022-1976-11-11 — Page 3

NJ

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1976

SIR DENYS ASSURED THE UNOFFICIAL MEMBERS THAT THE GOVERNMENT'S MEASURES WERE BASED ON WHAT IT ASSESSED THE NEEDS OF HONG KONG AND

ITS PEOPLE TO BE.

+NEVERTHELESS, + HE SAID, +WE CANNOT, AND SHOULD NOT, CLOSE OUR EARS TO SUGGESTIONS AND CRITICISMS FROM ELSEWHERE.+

+ IN PARTICULAR, WE ARE, BY REASON OF OUR CONSTITUTIONAL STATUS, OBLIGED TO PAY HEED TO THE VIEWS OF THOSE WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR AFFAIRS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.+

HOWEVER, SIR DENYS AGREED THAT THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD TAKE CARE NOT TO CONFER ON PEOPLE BENEFITS OF A KIND NOT WELCOME TO THEM FOR EXAMPLE BY IMPROVING WORKING CONDITIONS WHEN THEY MIGHT PREFER MORE MONEY.

THE GOVERNMENT, HE SAID, BELIEVED THAT THE MAJORITY OF THE WORKERS WOULD WARMLY WELCOME THE SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENTS WHICH ARE TO BE INTRODUCED IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS.

REPLYING TO A SUGGESTION FROM THE HON. T.S. LO THAT A COMPUTERISED CENTRAL SYSTEM OF MEANS TESTS BE ESTABLISHED, HE SAID THE PROPOSAL HAD, ON THE FACE OF IT, CONSIDERABLE INTELLECTUAL MERITS.

+BUT, AS I INDICATED IN APRIL, I AM DOUBTFUL AS TO WHETHER IT IS PRACTICAL AND WHETHER THE COMPLICATED AND EXPENSIVE ADMINISTRATIVE APPARATUS WHICH WOULD BE NECESSARY, IS JUSTIFIED, HE SAID.

HE ADDED THAT AFTER THE APRIL DEBATE, HE HAD ASKED THE SECRETARY FOR ADMINISTRATION TO INSTITUTE A STUDY OF THE SCHEME OF WHICH SOME PROGRESS HAD BEEN MADE.

SIR DENYS SAID HE WOULD MAKE A FULLER STATEMENT WHEN THE ENQUIRIES WERE COMPLETED.

REFERRING TO CRITICISMS THAT THE PRESENT ACCOMMODATION OF THE COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY DEPARTMENT WAS ILL SUITED TO ITS NEEDS, THẾ CHIEF SECRETARY REVEALED THAT IT WOULD NOT BE LONG BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT COULD BE MOVED TO BETTER PREMISES.

ON THE SUGGESTION THAT THERE SHOULD BE A SECRETARY FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY, HE POINTED OUT THE PROPOSAL HAD BEEN EXAMINED BY THE SECRETARY FOR ADMINISTRATION, WHOSE REPORT WAS BEING STUDIED, IN CONSULTATION WITH THE DIRECTOR OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY AND THE SECRETARIES CONCERNED.

/SIR DENYS