XN000022-1982-05-10 — Page 6

MONDAY, MAY 10, 1982

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LAND ADVISER RETIRES AFTER 30 YEARS SERVICE

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THE LANDS ADVISER OF THE LANDS AND WORKS BRANCH, MR IVOR STANTON, IS RETIRING AFTER NEARLY 30 YEARS OF SERVICE WITH THE GOVERNMENT.

TO MARK THE OCCASION, MR DAVID MCDONALD, SECRETARY FOR LANDS AND WORKS, TODAY PRÉSENTED HIM WITH A SOUVENIR - A TAI PING CARPET - ON BEHALF OF HIS FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES IN THE BRANCH AND THE FORMER PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT,

MR MCDONALD RECALLED THAT MR STANTON JOINED THE GOVERNMENT IN SEPTEMBER 1952 AS AN ESTATE SURVEYOR.

HAVING BECOME A SENIOR ESTATE SURVEYOR IN 1960, HE WAS PROMOTED TO WHAT WAS THEN CALLED ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT OF CROWN LANDS IN 1963. HIS TITLE WAS CHANGED TO GOVERNMENT LAND AGENT IN 1970. HE BECAME PRINCIPAL GOVERNMENT LAND AGENT IN 1972 AND DIRECTOR OF LANDS AND SURVEY IN AUGUST 1974.

FOUR YEARS AGO, MR STANTON'S TITLE WAS CHANGED TO DIRECTOR OF LANDS, SURVEY AND TOWN PLANNING.

MR MCDONALD SAID, WITH REORGANISATION AND DEFEDERAL ISATION OF THE FORMER PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT AND THE CREATION OF A NEW LANDS DEPARTMENT WITH TERRITORY-WIDE RESPONSIBILITIES FOR LAND, SURVEY AND TOWN PLANNING, AND IN VIEW OF MR STANTON'S IMMINENT RETIREMENT, HE BECAME, FROM APRIL 1 OF THIS YEAR LANDS ADVISER IN THE LANDS AND WORKS BRANCH OF THE GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT.+

DEALING WITH LAND ADMINISTRATION WAS NOT A GLAMOROUS FIELD, HE SAID.

+AN ARCHITECT OR ENGINEER MAY BE ABLE TO POINT TO A RANGE OF IMPORTANT BUILDINGS, HIGHWAY NETWORKS, BRIDGES OR DAMS FOR WHICH HE HAS BEEN RESPONSIBLE AND WHICH ARE THERE FOR ALL TO SEE AND HOPEFULLY ADMIRE, MR MCDONALD ADDED.

BUT LAND ADMINISTRATION, THE SURVEY AND MAPPING OF LAND, AND THE PLANNING OF ITS USE, ALTHOUGH LARGELY UNNOTICED BY THE PUBLIC ARE ESSENTIAL BASES FOR ALL FORMS OF CONSTRUCTION AND IT IS IN THESE FIELDS THAT MR STANTON'S ACHIEVEMENTS IN HONG KONG ARE TO BE FOUND.

+HE HAS, OF COURSE, SEEN OVER THE YEARS AN ALMOST INCREDIBLE INCREASE IN THE PRICES BID FOR LAND AT AUCTION BUT WOULD BE THE FIRST TO POINT OUT THAT THIS WAS NOT THE RESULT OF ANY DELIBERATE HIGH LAND PRICE POLICY NOR OF THE CREATION OF ARTIFICIAL SHORTAGE OF LAND, AS SOME DEVELOPERS HAVE SUGGESTED.