XN000022-1980-11-11 — Page 3

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1980

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+AND THIS WILL NOT BE EASY. IT WILL BE IRKSOME AND FRUSTRATING TO HAVE TO CARRY LEGALLY ACCEPTABLE MEANS OF IDENTIFICATION WITH US AT ALL TIMES AND THAT WILL BE A REQUIREMENT FOR A LONG, LONG TIME TO COME.+

BUT SIR JACK SAID IT WAS IN THE INTERESTS OF EVERYONE THAT THE INCONVENIENCES OF CARRYING IDENTIFICATION BE ACCEPTED TO ENSURE THE EFFICIENT CARRYING OUT OF THESE MEASURES,

EARLIER, IN AN INTRODUCTORY SPEECH, THE SECRETARY FOR HOUSING, MR DONALD LIAO, DESCRIBED SHA TIN AS A MOST APPROPRIATE EXAMPLE+ OF THE RAPID PACE OF DEVELOPMENT NOW UNDER WAY IN THE NEW TERRITORIES.

MR LIAO THEN TOLD HOW SHA TIN HAD BEEN TRANSFORMED. SINCE THE 1950'S, FROM A SMALL COUNTRY MARKET INTO A NEW TOWN WITH A POPULATION OF MORE THAN 100 000 PEOPLE, NEARLY HALF OF WHOM LIVED IN PUBLIC HOUSING.

+BY THE MID-1980'S, THERE WILL BE SOME 10 ESTATES, BOTH RENTAL AND HOME OWNERSHIP, ACCOMMODATING ABOUT 270 000 PEOPLE,+ HE SAID.

+BY THE END OF THE DECADE, THE POPULATION OF SHA TIN NEW TOWN WILL GROW TO THREE-QUARTERS OF A MILLION.+

FIRE PREVENTION IS THE CONCERN OF EVERYONE

*****

THE PUBLIC WERE TODAY URGED TO LOOK OUT FOR POTENTIAL FIRE RISKS, PARTICULARLY IN THE COMING DRY SEASON, TO REDUCE COSTLY LOSSES OF LIFE AND PROPERTY.

THE APPEAL CAME FROM THE DEPUTY CHIEF FIRE OFFICER OF THE FIRE PROTECTION BUREAU, MR LAM LOK-BUN, AT THE START OF THIS YEAR'S FIRE PREVENTION CAMPAIGN.

THE CAMPAIGN AIMS TO MINIMIZE FIRES BY EDUCATING THE PUBLIC IN FIRE PREVENTION,

MR LAM POINTED OUT THAT FIRE RISKS AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN WITH US SINCE THE BEGINNING OF CIVILISATION. THE CONSEQUENCES ARE LOSS OF LIFE, INJURIES, LOSS OF CULTURAL ARTEFACTS, LOST PROFITS AND NON-RECOVERABLE EXPENSES.

BESIDES, EVERY FIRE, BE IT SMALL OR SERIOUS, HAS ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES WHICH EXTEND FAR BEYOND ITS VISIBLE DAMAGE, HE

SAID.

MR LAM CITED THE LATEST STATISTICS TO ILLUSTRATE THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE PROBLEM IN HONG KONG AND THE DAMAGING EFFECT IT BROUGHT ABOUT.

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