XN000022-1982-03-02 — Page 5

TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 1982

DIRECTOR OF WATER SUPPLIES RETIRES

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THE DIRECTOR OF WATER SUPPLIES, MR WILLIAM TUCKER, IS RETIRING AFTER NEARLY 30 YEARS OF SERVICE IN THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT.

TO MARK THE OCCASION, MR DAVID MCDONALD, SECRETARY FOR LANDS AND WORKS, TODAY PRESENTED HIM WITH A SOUVENIR ON BEHALF OF HIS FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES AT A CEREMONY HELD AT THE PWD HEADQUARTERS IN MURRAY BUILDING.

MR MCDONALD RECALLED THAT MR TUCKER JOINED THE GOVERNMENT IN SEPTEMBER 1952 AS A PUPIL ENGINEER AND WAS POSTED TO THE WATERWORKS OFFICE.

HE WAS PROMOTED TO SENIOR ENGINEER IN 1963 AND CHIEF ENGINEER IN 1965, HE BECAME ASSISTANT GOVERNMENT WATER ENGINEER IN 1969, PRINCIPAL GOVERNMENT WATER ENGINEER IN 1972 AND DIRECTOR OF

WATER SUPPLIES IN 1976. IN MID 1981, HE ACTED AS DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS.

MR MCDONALD SAID, DURING THIS PERIOD, MR TUCKER WAS INVOLVED IN MANY OF THE LARGE WATERWORKS PROJECTS, SUCH AS PLOVER COVE AND HIGH ISLAND AND IN THE PROVISION OF EXTRA WATER FROM CHINA, IN CONNECTION WITH WHICH HE HAS MADE SEVERAL VISITS TO GUANGZHOU AS A MEMBER OF THE HONG KONG NEGOTIATING TEAM.

+ IN THE NEW YEAR HONOURS LIST OF 1981, MR TUCKER'S ACHIEVEMENTS WERE JUSTIFIABLY RECOGNISED WHEN HE WAS AWARDED THE ORDER OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE.+

MR TUCKER HAS ALSO BEEN VERY MUCH INVOLVED WITH COMPUTING IN PWD AND ESPECIALLY IN HIS OWN DEPARTMENT.

+THIS HAS NOT ALWAYS BEEN ENTIRELY SUCCESSFUL, ESPECIALLY IN THE FIRST ATTEMPTS, SOME YEARS AGO, TO COMPUTERIZE WATERWORKS CONSUMERS' ACCOUNTS, MR MCDONALD SAID.

+HAPPILY, THOSE DAYS ARE NOW OVER AND THE NEW COMPUTERIZED ACCOUNTING SYSTEM IS WORKING WELL. THIS IS DUE IN NO SMALL. MEASURE TO MR TUCKER'S ENTHUSIASM AND DRIVE.

+BEING DIRECTOR OF WATER SUPPLIES IS NOT, OF COURSE, WITHOUT ITS ATTENDANT DANGERS, HE ADDED. +MR TUCKER HAS BEEN THE TARGET OF POPULAR INDIGNATION ON MORE THAN ONE OCCASION, THE LATEST BEING THE RECENT IMPOSITION OF WATER RESTRICTIONS WHICH LIMIT SUPPLY TO TEN HOURS PER DAY.

*THEY ARE NOWHERE NEAR AS RESTRICTIVE AS, FOR EXAMPLE, WE HAD IN 1967, WHEN SUPPLY WAS AVAILABLE ONLY FOR FOUR HOURS EVERY FOURTH DAY.+

MR MCDONALD THEN WISHED MR AND MRS TUCKER A VERY LONG AND HAPPY RETIREMENT.

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