XN000022-1982-04-14 — Page 4

WEDNESDAY, APRIL

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+SO FAR BY TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT MEASURES, IT HAS BEEN MORE OR LESS POSSIBLE TO ACCOMMODATE OVERALL DEMAND AND THE PRIVATE VEHICLE, COMPARATIVELY SPEAKING, HAS NOT BEEN PENALISED.

+BUT PRIVATE VEHICLES ARE INCREASING AT SUCH A RATE THAT ROAD CAPACITY IS UNABLE ADEQUATELY TO ACCOMMODATE THEM, AND CONGESTION IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY INTOLERABLE.+

HE POINTED OUT THAT THE POLICY WAS LAID DOWN IN THE 1978 WHITE PAPER ON INTERNAL TRANSPORT POLICY: +IF UNACCEPTABLE CONGESTION IS TO BE AVOIDED, THE GOVERNMENT BELIEVES THAT RESTRAINT ON ROAD USE BY MOTOR-CYCLES AND PRIVATE CARS WILL BE UNAVOIDABLE.+

MR SCOTT ALSO SPOKE ON SPECIFIC POINTS RAISED BY UNOFFICIAL MEMBERS ON TRAFFIC WARDENS, THE CROSS-HARBOUR TUNNEL, PARKING POLICIES AND GOODS VEHICLES.

ON THE CROSS-HARBOUR TUNNEL, HE SAID SOME FORM OF RESTRAINT ON ITS USAGE MAY BE NECESSARY UNTIL A SECOND FIXED HARBOUR CROSSING IS IN OPERATION. HE ASSURED MEMBERS THAT THE LATTER POINT IS BEING VIGOROUSLY PURSUED AND THE FORMER REMAINS UNDER CONSIDERATION.

ON GOODS VEHICLES, MR SCOTT SAID THEIR PROLIFERATION AND OPERATIONS ARE COMPLEX AND THEY ARE THIS YEAR TO BE THE SUBJECT OF A CONSULTANCY STUDY AS TO BOTH THEIR TRANSPORT AND ECONOMIC ASPECTS.

+THEIR IMPORTANCE IN OUR ECONOMIC STRUCTURE IS SUCH THAT WE MUST UNDERSTAND THE POSITION REASONABLY FULLY BEFORE MEASURES CAN BE CONSIDERED, HE SAID.

EXTENSIVE MONITORING OF POWER COMPANIES CARRIED OUT

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DESPITE THE EXTENSIVE MONITORING ROLE UNDERTAKEN BY THE GOVERNMENT TO CHECK THAT CONSUMERS GET A RELIABLE SERVICE BOTH NOW AND IN THE FUTURE. THE POWER COMPANIES REMAIN RESPONSIBLE DIRECT TO THEIR CONSUMERS FOR PROVIDING AN EFFICIENT SERVICE AT REASONABLE PRICES, THE SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC SERVICES, THE HON D.G. JE AFFRESÓN, TOLD THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TODAY.

+THE GOVERNMENT'S MONITORING ROLE DOES NOT MAKE THEIR LIFE PARTICULARLY EASY, MR JEAFFRESON POINTED OUT, IN REPLY TO QUESTIONS BY THE HON ALLAN LEE AND THE HON CHEUNG YAN-LUNG.

MR JE AFFRESON ALSO TOOK THE OPPORTUNITY TO PAY TRIBUTE TO *THE PATIENT AND HELPFUL WAY THE COMPANIES HAVE CO-OPERATED WITH THE GOVERNMENT IN THIS RESPECT

HE SAID THE PRICE OF ELECTRICITY COMPARED FAVOURABLY WITH THE PRICES ELSEWHERE, AND THE RELIABILITY SUPPLY WAS, HE WOULD HAVE THOUGHT, UNPARALLELLED+.