XN000022-1977-01-03 — Page 6

MONDAY, JANUARY 3, 1977

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RURAL COMMITTEES ASSURED ON THEIR NT. ROLE

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NEW COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS WERE BEING ENCOURAGED IN THE NEW TERRITORIES TO DEAL WITH SOCIAL PROBLEMS OUTSIDE THE SCOPE OF THE RURAL COMMITTEES, THE SECRETARY FOR THE NEW TERRITORIES, MR. DAVID AKERS-JONES, SAID TODAY.

BUT, HE SAID, THESE NEW ORGANISATIONS WERE NOT INTENDED TO REPLACE THE RURAL COMMITTEES, WHICH CONTINUED TO PROVIDE A VALUABLE SERVICE IN THEIR PARTICULAR AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY.

ADDRESSING THE WEEKLY MEETING OF THE NEW TERRITORIES ROTARY CLUB, MR. AKERS-JONES ALSO SPOKE OF THE ROLE OF THE HEUNG YEE KUK IN PROMOTING AND DEVELOPING UNDERSTANDING AND GIVING ADVICE TO THE GOVERNMENT ON MATTERS AFFECTING THE NEW TERRITORIES.

+ THE KUK IS PART OF A TWO-WAY EXCHANGE, TO AND FROM THE GOVERNMENT, FOR THROUGH THE KUK AND ITS SUPPORTING RURAL COMMITTEES, I AM ABLE TO EXPLAIN TO THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE THE GREAT CHANGES THAT ARE TAKING PLACE IN THE NEW TERRITORIES,+ HE SAID.

MR. AKERS-JONES ALSO POINTED OUT THAT IN THE LAST FEW YEARS, MANY NEW ORGANISATIONS HAD BEEN FORMED SUCH AS CLEAN HONG KONG COMMITTEES, FIGHT CRIME COMMITTEES, AND MUTUAL AID COMMITTEES.

+THESE ORGANISATIONS DID NOT JUST SPRING UP AT RANDOM BUT, WERE, LIKE THE CITY DISTRICT OFFICER SYSTEM, A DIRECT RESPONSE TO THE PROBLEMS INFECTING OUR SOCIAL SYSTEM RESULTING FROM HIGH DENSITY LIVING, INDUSTRIALISATION AND THE BOMBARDMENT OF IDEAS FROM THE WORLD OUTSIDE HONG KONG, WHERE TRADITIONAL VALUES WERE EQUALLY BEING CHALLENGED, HE SAID.

+THESE COMMITTEES WERE FORMED NOT ONLY IN HONG KONG AND KOWLOON BUT ALSO IN THE NEW TERRITORIES, NOT TO TAKE THE PLACE OF THE RURAL COMMITTEES BUT TO DEAL WITH THE EXISTENCE OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS WHICH WERE OUTSIDE THE SCOPE OF THE RURAL COMMITTEES.

+THEY DEAL DIRECTLY WITH DIRT AND LITTER, WITH CRIME AND THE MANAGEMENT OF MULTI-STOREY BUILDINGS, +

OTHER GROUPS, PARTICULARLY ARTS AND SPORTS ORGANISATIONS HAD BEEN FORMED +TO PROVIDE FOR THE PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL NEEDS OF PEOPLE LIVING IN OUR RAPIDLY GROWING TOWNS.+

MR. AKERS-JONES SAID THAT RURAL COMMITTEE LEADERS HAD COME FORWARD TO SERVE AND ADVISE IN MANY OF THESE NEW ORGANISATIONS AND THEIR KNOWLEDGE WAS MOST USEFUL BECAUSE THEY HAD GROWN UP WITH THE PROBLEMS OF EACH PLACE.

HE ADDED: +CLEARLY, IN A SITUATION OF GREAT CHANGE, FRESH INITIATIVES AND CHANGES IN ORGANISATIONS ARE NECESSARY.

/+FOR