XN000022-1980-02-13 — Page 26

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1980

MORE LAND TO BE PRODUCED IN SHA TIN

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SOME 450 MORE HECTARES OF LAND WILL BE PRODUCED AND SERVICED FOR BUILDING DEVELOPMENT PURPOSES IN SHA TIN WITHIN THE NEXT FOUR YEARS.

SO FAR, SOME 400 HECTARES HAD BEEN FORMED - 71 FOR PUBLIC HOUSING, 17 FOR PRIVATE HOUSING, 46 FOR FOR GOVERNMENT AND OTHER USES AND 15 FOR INDUSTRIAL PURPOSES.

THIS WAS DISCLOSED BY MR FONG CHUN-NAM, PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT'S PROJECT MANAGER FOR SHA TIN NEW TOWN, WHEN HE ADDRESSED THE LIONS CLUB OF VICTORIA TODAY.

OF THE 450 HECTARES TO BE PRODUCED AND SERVICED, HE SAID, NO LESS THAN 99 WOULD BE FOR PRIVATE HOUSING AND 45 FOR INDUSTRIAL USE.

REGARDING THE SUGGESTION THAT PRIVATE COMPANIES SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO FORM AND SERVICE LAND SO AS TO ACCELERATE THE AVAILABILITY OF BUILDING SITES, MR FONG SAID IT HAD HIS PERSONAL SUPPORT.

+IN FACT, WE HAVE BEEN DOING THIS IN SHA TIN, FOR EXAMPLE IN 1975, A PRIVATE DEVELOPER ENTERED INTO AN AGREEMENT BY TENDER WITH THE GOVERNMENT TO FORM 58 HECTARES OF LAND AND ON COMPLETION THE DEVELOPER RETAINED 16 HECTARES FOR HIS OWN PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT AND RETURNED 42 HECTARES TO GOVERNMENT FOR PUBLIC USE, HE SAID.

BASED ON HIS EXPERIENCE, HOWEVER, HE POINTED OUT THAT THERE WERE CERTAIN LIMITATIONS IN THIS APPROACH BECAUSE IN PRACTICE THERE WERE EXTREMELY FEW LOCATIONS WHERE THIS COULD BE POSSIBLE.

+THE REASONS BEING WHERE, FOR EXAMPLE, DOES THE RAW SEWAGE GO UNLESS ALL THE DEVELOPMENT TIES IN WITH GOVERNMENT SERVICING AND HOW DO THE PEOPLE GET IN AND OUT IF ADJACENT ROADS ARE NOT PROVIDED IN TIME.

ELABORATING ON OTHER ASPECTS OF LAND DEVELOPMENT, MR FONG SAID THAT BY FAR THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO CONSIDER, ESPECIALLY IN THE NEW TERRITORIES, WAS THE FACT THAT DEVELOPMENT OF LAND PRODUCTION INVOLVED A HUMAN ELEMENT, SOMETIMES TO THE SAME DEGREE AS CONSTRUCTION PROBLEMS.

+THE DELICATE MATTER REGARDING TRADITIONAL VILLAGE LAND, CLEARANCE OF GRAVES, MATTERS INVOLVING FUNG SHUI, CROP COMPENSATIONS AND SO ON REALLY CAN ONLY BE TACKLED THROUGH GOVERNMENT,+ HE SAID.

+MUCH THOUGH WE WOULD LIKE TO ACCELERATE THE PROCESS OF LAND PRODUCTION THERE ARE DEFINITELY PRACTICAL LIMITATIONS EVEN THOUGH ONE MAY ASSUME HONG KONG HAS UNLIMITED FINANCIAL AND MANPOWER RESOURCES.

/+FOR THE