XN000022-1979-04-09 — Page 4

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MONDAY, APRIL 9, 1979

YUEN LONG TOWN HALL - AN OUTSTANDING EXAMPLE OF

COMMUNITY-GOVERNMENT PARTNERSHIP

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THE SECRETARY FOR THE NEW TERRITORIES, MR. DAVID AKERS-JONES, THIS (MONDAY) EVENING DESCRIBED THE 10-YEAR-OLD YUEN LONG TOWN HALL THE FIRST COMMUNITY-BUILT HALL IN THE NEW TERRITORIES - AS +AN OUTSTANDING EXAMPLE OF SUCCESSFUL PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN A LIVELY AND CIVIC-MINDED COMMUNITY AND A RESPONSIVE GOVERNMENT.+

OVER THE PAST DECADE, HE SAID, THE PEOPLE OF YUEN LONG HAD DONE MUCH TOWARDS THE PROMOTION OF COMMUNITY AFFAIRS, OF WHICH THE COMPLETION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TOWN HALL IS ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE EXAMPLES.

+THIS SHOWS THAT LOCAL PEOPLE HAVE A PERSISTENT ENTHUSIASM IN PUBLIC WELL-BEING AND SHOWS THAT YUEN LONG IS A DISTRICT WITH A HIGH SPIRIT OF PROGRESS, HE SAID.

SPEAKING AT THE INAUGURATION CEREMONY OF MEMBERS OF THE FIFTH TERM OF OFFICE OF THE YUEN LONG TOWN HALL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE, MR. AKERS-JONES POINTED OUT THAT THE GOVERNMENT WAS PLANNING TO SPEND $726 MILLION OVER THE NEXT 10 YEARS IN MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS TO TRANSFORM THE TOWN INTO A NEW TOWN OF THE 80'S.

THE DEVELOPMENTS WHICH WILL BE CARRIED OUT AROUND THE EXISTING TOWN WILL PROVIDE A WIDE RANGE OF NEW AMENITIES FOR A PROJECTED POPULATION OF JUST UNDER 100,000 PEOPLE.

+UNDER THE NEW TOWN PLAN, GOVERNMENT WILL BUILD A COMPREHENSIVE AND WELL-EQUIPPED CULTURAL CENTRE WHICH, IT IS HOPED, WILL BE COMPLETED IN FIVE YEARS' TIME,+ HE SAID.

+SUCH A DEVELOPMENT IS AIMED AT SATISFYING THE NEEDS OF THE INCREASING POPULATION AND THEIR DEMAND FOR CULTURAL FACILITIES.+

MR. AKERS-JONES NOTED THAT THE MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE OF THE TOWN HALL HAD BEEN STRENGTHENED WITH THE FORMATION OF A MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE IN 1975.

SINCE THEN, HE SAID, TREMENDOUS PROGRESS HAD BEEN MADE UNDER THE ABLE LEADERSHIP OF THE HONOURABLE CHARLES YEUNG.

THANKING MR. YEUNG AND MEMBERS OF THE VARIOUS TERMS OF OFFICE FOR THE IR GOOD WORK IN DEVELOPING THE TOWN HALL, MR. AKERS-JONES SAID HE WAS CONFIDENT THAT UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF MR. CHIU SHU-FAN, THE NEW CHAIRMAN, MEMBERS

OF THE NEW TERM WOULD INHERIT THE SPIRIT OF REPAYING THE COMMUNITY FOR WHAT ONE HAS TAKEN FROM IT+ AND RENDER EVEN BETTER SERVICES TO THE TOWN HALL AND THE PEOPLE OF YUEN LONG.

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