XN000022-1981-07-30 — Page 19

THURSDAY, JULY 30, 1981

18

ON WATER SUPPLY FROM CHINA, MR TUCKER SAID: +HONG KONG IS RECEIVING 168 MILLION CUBIC METRES ANNUALLY FROM CHINA AND THIS WILL INCREASE TO 182 MILLION CUBIC METRES ANNUALLY IN 1982.

+FURTHER INCREASES WILL BECOME AVAILABLE FROM 1983 ONWARDS UNDER THE TERMS OF THE LATEST AGREEMENT SIGNED IN MAY LAST YEAR WHEREBY THE TOTAL SUPPLY FROM CHINA WILL INCREASE PROGRESSIVELY TO 620 MILLION CUBIC METRES IN THE MIDDLE OF 1990'S. THAT IS WATER SUPPLY FROM CHINA WILL BE MORE THAN TREBLED OVER THE NEXT 14 YEARS, INCREASING FROM ROUGHLY 30 PER CENT OF OUR CURRENT DEMAND TO 60 PER CENT OF THE ESTIMATED DEMAND IN 1994/95.+

TURNING TO THE LOK ON PAI DESALTING PLANT, MR TUCKER SAID IT COULD PRODUCE 182 000 CUBIC METRES OF WATER A DAY OR ABOUT 12 PER CENT OF THE PRESENT WATER DEMAND.

ANY DECISION TO OPERATE THE DESALTER, HE ADDED, WOULD BE VERY SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED, AND IT WOULD NOT BE RUN IN PLACE OF ALTERNATIVE, CHEAPER SOURCES OF SUPPLY THAT COULD BE MADE AVAILABLE.

HOWEVER, HE POINTED OUT THAT THERE WOULD BE NO INCREASE IN WATER CHARGES ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE DESALTER SHOULD IT BE FOUND NECESSARY TO OPERATE IT.

MR TUCKER DEFENDED THE GOVERNMENT DECISION TO BUILD THE DESALTER, SAYING THAT AT THE TIME THE DECISION WAS MADE IN 1972, IT WAS THE MOST ECONOMICAL WAY OF PRODUCING THE ADDITIONAL QUANTITIES OF WATER REQUIRED BY HONG KONG TO MEET THE EXPECTED SHORTFALL JUST PRIOR TO THE COMMISSIONING OF THE HIGH ISLAND WATER SCHEME.

+ IN RETROSPECT, THE DECISION TO CHOOSE A LOW USE FACTOR, SINGLE PURPOSE PLANT WAS THE CORRECT ONE, AS NOT ONLY DID IT PROVIDE A RELIABLE, FIXED CONTRIBUTION TO THE WATER RESOURCES AS AND WHEN REQUIRED, BUT IT DELAYED BY ABOUT TWO YEARS THE TIME BY WHICH A DECISION WOULD HAVE HAD TO BE MADE TO ENTER INTO LARGE SCALE DESALTING, PROBABLY IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE PRODUCTION OF ELECTRICITY, HE SAID.

+THIS DELAY ENABLED AN APPROACH TO BE MADE TO THE CHINESE AUTHOR ITIES FOR ADDITIONAL SUPPLIES OF WATER LEADING TO DISCUSSIONS IN 1979 AND EVENTUALLY A LONG-TERM AGREEMENT IN 1980, +

MR TUCKER SAID THE DESALTER HAD ALREADY BEEN USED TO GOOD EFFECT IN 1977-78 AND WOULD BE AVAILABLE AGAIN TO FULFIL ITS ROLE AS A STRATEGIC RESERVE, IF NECESSARY.

/19