XN000022-1980-08-14 — Page 3

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 1980

*WE WOULD NATURALLY HAVE PREFERRED NOT TO HAVE HAD TO RESUME, AND UNDERTOOK STUDIES TO SEE WHETHER WE COULD AVOID THIS BY RE-ALIGNMENT OF THE ROAD, BUT THERE WAS NO ALTERNATIVE.+

THE HOUSING DEPARTMENT WILL START REGISTERING TENANTS FROM TOMORROW (FRIDAY).

$150 MILLION FOR NT LIBRARY PLAN

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THE GOVERNMENT HAS APPROVED A $150 MILLION EXPANSION PROGRAMME OVER TEN YEARS FOR PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICES IN THE NEW TERRITORIES, THE DIRECTOR OF CULTURAL SERVICES, URBAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT, MR DARWIN CHEN SAID TODAY (THURSDAY).

SPEAKING AT THE KOWLOON ZONTA CLUB, MR CHEN SAID THE PROGRAMME WILL CALL FOR THE PROVISION OF ABOUT 2.1 MILLION BOOKS AS WELL AS AUDIO-VISUAL MATERIAL, SEVEN DISTRICT LIBRARIES, A CENTRAL LIBRARY IN TSUEN WAN FOR THE WHOLE OF THE NEW TERRITORIES, MAJOR BRANCH LIBRARIES IN SHA TIN AND TUEN MUN NEW TOWNS. SMALL LIBRARIES FOR SAI KUNG AND CHEUNG CHAU AND MINI LIBRARIES FOR TAI 0, MUI WO, PENG CHAU AND LAMMA ISLAND.

+ IT IS INTENDED THAT THIS PROGRAMME BE ACHIEVED BY PHASED IMPLEMENTATION OVER 10 YEARS FROM 1981, + SAID MR CHEN.

+BY 1991, HONG KONG WILL HAVE SOME 40 LIBRARIES, LARGE AND SMALL, STÁTIC AND MOBILE, PROVIDING BOOKS AS WELL AS AUDIO-VISUAL MATERIALS, SERVING THE COMMUNITIES IN BOTH THE URBAN AREAS AND THE NEW TERRITORIES.

+I'M SURE YOU WILL AGREE THAT OUR LIBRARY PROGRAMME, IN BOTH SCOPE AND PACE, IS SECOND TO NONE ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD AND THAT HONG KONG CAN RIGHTLY BE PROUD OF ITS PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICES,+ MR CHEN ADDED.

MR CHEN ALSO TOUCHED ON THE URBAN COUNCIL LIBRARIES WITH THE FIRST BEING THE CITY HALL LIBRARY.

+IT COMMENCED SERVICE ON A VERY SMALL SCALE WITH A BOOKSTOCK OF LESS THAN 19 000 VOLUMES. THE OPENING OF THE CITY HALL LIBRARY FULFILLED A GOVERNMENT PROMISE MADE SOME 30 YEARS EARLIER TO PROVIDE EVENTUALLY FOR FACILITIES WHICH HAD BEEN AVAILABLE AT THE OLD CITY HALL, WHICH WAS DEMOLISHED IN 1932.

+HOWEVER, DESPITE THE LAPSE OF 30 YEARS, IN MAKING THIS PROVISION THE GOVERNMENT WAS AHEAD RATHER THAN BEHIND PUBLIC OPINION OF THE TIME, FOR WHEN PLANNING COMMENCED ON THE CITY HALL COMPLEX THERE WAS MUCH PROGNOSTICATION TO THE EFFECT THAT SUCH FACILITIES WERE A WASTE OF PUBLIC MONEY, WOULD NOT BE USED, AND THAT THE WHOLE COMPLEX WOULD BECOME ONE BIG "WHITE ELEPHANT',

/+SUBSEQUENT