XN000022-1982-11-10 — Page 13

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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1982

A LONG-TERM PROGRAMME WAS BEING DRAWN UP TO INSTALL, IMPROVE AND MAINTAIN BASIC SERVICES AND AMENITIES IN SQUATTER AREAS, WITH PRIORITY FOR THOSE MAJOR URBAN ONES NOT SCHEDULED FOR CLEARANCE IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS, HE ADDED.

AS REGARDS REHOUSING OF THOSE MADE HOMELESS FROM SQUATTER HUTS AND BOATS, MR LIAO SAID A NEW BASELINE HAD BEEN ADOPTED TO GIVE GREATER PRIORITY TO LONG-TERM RESIDENTS.

+THE NEW BASELINE DOES NOT AFFECT THE ELIGIBILITY OF RECENT IMMIGRANTS, NOR OF NEW SQUATTERS: THEY WILL HAVE TO AWAIT THE IR TURN.+

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RENT CONTROLS BEING REVIEWED

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THE GOVERNMENT IS CONSIDERING THE FUTURE FORM OF EXISTING RENT CONTROLS AND APPROPRIATE LEGISLATION WILL BE INTRODUCED DURING THE CURRENT LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL SESSION.

ANNOUNCING THIS IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TODAY, THE

EXPECTED SECRETARY FOR HOUSING, THE HON DONALD LIAO SAID HE DETAILED PROPOSALS TO BE READY BY EARLY 1983.

+ALTHOUGH A NUMBER OF SIGNIFICANT STEPS WERE TAKEN WHEN EXTENDING THE LEGISLATION LAST DECEMBER, HE SAID, +CIRCUMSTANCES HAVE SINCE CHANGED AND THERE APPEARS TO BE ROOM FOR FURTHER RELAXATION OF RENT CONTROLS.+

MR LIAO RECALLED THAT IN ITS REPORT OF FEBRUARY 1981, THE COMMITTEE OF REVIEW HAD CONCLUDED THAT RENT CONTROL SHOULD BE RESORTED TO ONLY AS AN EXPEDIENT MEASURE IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST AND THAT AS SOON AS CIRCUMSTANCES PERMIT, EVERY EFFORT CONSISTENT WITH THE NEED TO AVOID ADVERSE SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES SHOULD BE MADE TO ACCELERATE THE PHASING OUT OF RENT CONTROL.

DECLINE SEEN IN TRADE DISPUTES

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THE COMMISSIONER FOR LABOUR, THE HON J.N. HENDERSON, TOLD THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL THIS (WEDNESDAY) AFTERNOON, THAT DESPITE A FEW TENSE AND PROTRACTED DISPUTES AND A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN REDUNDANCY CASES, THE NUMBER OF TRADE DISPUTES HAD BEEN DECLINING IN THE LAST THREE QUARTERS OF THIS YEAR.

HE URGED EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES TO REACT WITH GREATER SENSITIVITY AND CONSIDERATION DURING THESE MORE DIFFICULT ECONOMIC CIRCUMSTANCES, SO THAT THE GOODWILL, TRUST AND HARMONIOUS RELATIONS BUILT UP BETWEEN THEM OVER THE YEARS WOULD NOT BE DISSIPATED.

AR HANDERSON