XN000022-1979-04-29 — Page 2

1

SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 1979

-

TSING Y! AN ISLAND OF INDUSTRY

*****

THE GOVERNMENT IS PLANNING TO DEVELOP ANOTHER 36 HECTARES OF LAND ON TSING YI ISLAND FOR INDUSTRIAL USE OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.

OF THE TOTAL, MORE THAN 13 HECTARES WILL BE RESERVED FOR HEAVY INDUSTRY, 21 FOR LIGHT INDUSTRY AND TWO FOR SPECIAL INDUSTRY.

THE LARGEST AREA, MEASURING SOME 14 HECTARES, IS EARMARKED FOR LIGHT INDUSTRIAL USE, IT WILL BE SITUATED NEXT TO THE EUROASIA SHIPYARD SITE AT THE SOUTH-WEST COAST OF THE ISLAND.

ANOTHER SUB-DIVISION OF ABOUT 10 HECTARES FOR HEAVY INDUSTRY WILL BE FORMED ABOVE THE YIU LIAN MACHINERY REPAIRING WORKS SITE.

THERE WILL ALSO BE A NUMBER OF SMALLER AREAS, RANGING FROM 0.15 TO 4.5 HECTARES, ON BOTH THE EAST AND WEST COAST.

SOME OF THESE CARRY A 9.5 PLOT RATIO AND WILL BE SUITABLE FOR MULTI-STOREY FACTORY DEVELOPMENT SIMILAR TO THOSE IN TSUEN WAN AND KWAI CHUNG.

THE ESTATE SURVEYOR (TSING YI) OF THE TSUEN WAN DISTRICT OFFICE, MR. HUMPHREY BEESON, SAID TODAY (SUNDAY) THESE PROPOSALS WERE PART OF THE COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAMME TO DEVELOP TSING YI AS A BASE FOR HIGH TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY.

+THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN COVERS A TOTAL AREA OF ABOUT 523 HECTARES OF WHICH ABOUT 100 HECTARES HAVE TO BE FORMED BY RECLAMATION, + MR. BEESON SAID.

THE SIGNIFICANCE BEHIND THE PLAN IS THE GRADUAL INDUSTRIAL ISATION OF THE ISLAND WITH GREAT IMPORTANCE ATTACHED TO ATTRACTING SPECIALIST INDUSTRIES TO HONG KONG.

+THIS IS EVIDENT IN ITS ZONING PLANS WHICH ENVISAGE THE ALLOCATION OF MORE THAN 140 HECTARES OF LAND FOR HEAVY INDUSTRY, 57 HECTARES FOR LIGHT INDUSTRY AND 9.5 HECTARES FOR SPECIAL INDUSTRY.+

TO DATE, HEAVY INDUSTRIES HAVE TAKEN UP 109 HECTARES, LIGHT INDUSTRIES 23 HECTARES WHILE SPECIAL INDUSTRIAL CONCERNS ÁRE OPERATING ON FOUR HECTARES OF LAND.

MR. BEESON POINTED OUT THAT MOST LAND WAS SOLD BY PRIVATE TREATY OR BY RESTRICTED USER TENDER IN RESPONSE TO SPECIFIC APPLICATIONS WHICH MET DETAILED ECONOMIC CRITERIA.

+WE ARE TAKING ACCOUNT OF THE NEED TO BROADEN HONG KONG'S INDUSTRIAL BASE BY MAKING SITES AVAILABLE TO ESTABLISHMENTS OF HIGH TECHNOLOGY AND LAND-INTENSIVE INDUSTRIES,+ HE SAID.

/+HOWEVER