XN000022-1979-10-10 — Page 13

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 1979

HE POINTED OUT THAT THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE WORKING GROUP ON LAND ACQUISITION CHAIRED BY SIR YUET-KEUNG KAN HAD BEEN PUT INTO OPERATION AND HAD WORKED WELL.

THE LAND SALES PROGRAMME HAD BEEN REDRAWN TO GIVE PRIORITY TO THOSE HOLDING LAND EXCHANGE ENTITLEMENTS AND EVERY EFFORT WAS BEING MADE TO KEEP THIS PROGRAMME ROLLING FORWARD, SIR MURRAY SAID.

+NEVERTHELESS WE MUST CONTINUE TO KEEP THE SYSTEM AS A WHOLE UNDER REVIEW TO ENSURE THAT IT REMAINS WORKABLE AS CIRCUMSTANCES CHANGE,+ HE ADDED.

SIR MURRAY SAID THAT IN ADDITION TO COMPENSATION FOR LANDOWNERS, COMPENSATION WAS BEING GIVEN TO OCCUPIERS AFFECTED BY DEVELOPMENT UNDER A SCHEDULE WHICH NOW CONTAINS NO LESS THAN 41 DIFFERENT ITEMS.

+NO LIST, HOWEVER, CAN BE COMPREHENSIVE AND WE MUST ALWAYS BE READY TO ALLEVIATE GENUINE HARDSHIP AND TO ADAPT OUR POLICIES TO MEET CHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES WHILE STANDING FIRM WHERE REQUESTS ARE UNREASONABLE AND EXCESSIVE,+ HE SAID.

SIR MURRAY SAID THERE HAD BEEN OCCASIONAL INCIDENTS IN CLEARANCES WHICH ATTRACTED ATTENTION. BUT TO PUT THESE IN PERSPECTIVE, IT SHOULD BE REMEMBERED THAT IN NORTH TSUEN WAN ALONE, OVER 20 000 PEOPLE HAD BEEN MOVED SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THIS YEAR.

HE PAID TRIBUTE TO THOSE WHO HAVE, BY THE EXERCISE OF PATIENCE AND FAIR-MINDEDNESS, ACHIEVED THIS WITH THE CONSENT AND CO-OPERATION OF THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE AFFECTED.

ON DEVELOPMENT THE GOVERNOR SAID MUCH OF THE NEW PUBLIC AND PRIVATE HOUSING IS AND WILL BE IN THE NEW TERRITORIES.

HE SAID THE PACE OF THIS DEVELOPMENT A FEW YEARS AGO HAD ACCELERATED WHEREVER POSSIBLE BUT NOW IT HAD TO SLOW DOWN BECAUSE OF CAPACITY RESTRAINTS.

+THIS MEANS NOT THAT WE HAVE ABANDONED ANY PROJECTS, BUT ONLY THAT WE HAVE TO ACCEPT LATER COMPLETION OF THEM,+ HE SAID.

SIR MURRAY SAID A VISIT TO SHA TIN OR TUEN MUN WOULD DISPEL ANY FEAR THAT THE CONSTRUCTION OF THESE NEW COMMUNITIES, WITH THE IR PROSPECT OF SUCH AN IMPROVED QUALITY OF LIFE, HAD LOST ITS MOMENTUM.

HE ALSO SAID THAT IN THE NEW TOWNS THE HOUSING AUTHORITY WOULD COMPLETE 16 000 FLATS THIS YEAR AND THE PRIVATE SECTOR, ANOTHER 7 000.

+SURELY THIS IS PROGRESS,+ SIR MURRAY POINTED OUT.

/HE SAID