XN000022-1981-09-17 — Page 9

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1981

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NEW ROLES FOR MUTUAL AID COMMITTEES OUTLINED

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AN AREA OF PUBLIC GOOD WHICH MUTUAL AID COMMITTEES CAN CONTRIBUTE SUBSTANTIALLY TO IS SAFETY IN THE HOME.

AN ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR THE NEW TERRITORIES, MISS REGINA LAU, SAID THIS TODAY (THURSDAY) WHEN SPEAKING TO THE ROTARY CLUB OF HONG KONG ISLAND NORTH.

MISS LAU SAID THAT EARLY THIS YEAR THE SPATE OF ACCIDENTS OWING TO GAS LEAKAGE, OFTEN FATAL, BROUGHT THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY'S ATTENTION TO THE NEED FOR AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE USE OF GAS WATER HEATERS.

+APART FROM APPOINTING CONSULTANTS TO DO A STUDY INTO THE USE OF GAS WATER HEATERS, THE GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN CONSIDERING HOW BEST TO PROMOTE THE NEED FOR SAFETY IN THE HOME, SHE SAID.

+ IT HAS BEEN SUGGESTED THAT MACS WOULD BE THE MOST EFFECTIVE MACHINERY BY WHICH TO LAUNCH SUCH A CAMPAIGN.+

SHE NOTED THAT CERTAIN MACS, PARTICULARLY THOSE IN PUBLIC HOUSING ESTATES, HAD ALREADY DONE SOME WORK ON THIS AND FOUND THAT THE RESPONSE OF THE RESIDENTS WAS JUST AS KEEN AS WHEN THEY TACKLED THE PROBLEMS OF BUILDING CLEANLINESS AND INTERNAL SECURITY,

MISS LAU SAID MACS WERE ALSO PROVING INDISPENSABLE IN PROMOTING THE DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION SCHEME.

+MOST OF THEM ARE INDEED BECOMING VERY ACTIVE IN ENCOURAGING REGISTRATION OF VOTERS AND I WOULD NOT BE AT ALL SURPRISED TO SEE MAC OFFICE BEARERS AS CANDIDATES OF THE NEW TERRITORIES DISTRICT BOARD ELECTIONS IN MARCH 1982, SHE SAID.

MISS LAU ALSO URGED ALL MACS TO SUPPORT THE SECOND CLEAN HONG KONG CAMPAIGN WHICH WOULD BE LAUNCHED SHORTLY TO MAKE IT AN EVEN GREATER SUCCESS THAN THE ONE LAUNCHED IN 1973.

THE MAC SCHEME WAS FIRST INTRODUCED IN THE SUMMER OF 1973, INITIALLY AS AN EXPERIMENTAL MEANS OF INVOLVING THE COMMUNITY IN TWO GOVERNMENT CAMPAIGNS: THE KEEP HONG KONG CLEAN AND FIGHT VIOLENT CRIME CAMPAIGNS,

SHE SAID AS A RESULT OF THE INITIAL SUCCESS OF MAC FORMATION, IT WAS DECIDED BY A REVIEW OF THE SCHEME IN 1976 TO EXTEND THE SCHEME INTO THE NEW TERRITORIES.

+BY MARCH 1977, OVER 200 MACS WERE FORMED IN URBANISED TSUEN WAN. IN JUST FOUR YEARS, THIS FIGURE HAS INCREASED FIVE-FOLD AND TODAY THERE ARE OVER 1 000 MACS AND OWNERS CORPORATIONS DOTTED ALL OVER THE EIGHT DISTRICTS OF THE NEW TERRITORIES.

+ IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT OVER THE NEXT YEAR, ALMOST 200 NEW MACS WILL BE FORMED IN THE NEW TERRITORIES. TOGETHER WITH THE 4 500- ODD MACS IN THE URBAN AREAS, IT CAN BE SAID THAT THE MAC SCHEME IS THE LARGEST TYPE OF RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION EXISTING IN HONG KONG,+ SHE SAID.

/MACS WERE