XN000022-1982-12-02 — Page 3

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1982

+THE SEPARATE FAMILIES LIVING IN OUR DENSELY POPULATED MULTI-STOREY BUILDINGS HAVE BEEN BROUGHT TOGETHER TO SHARE IN THE RESPONSIBILITY OF MANAGING THIS CROWDED METROPOLIS BY THE FORMATION OF MUTUAL AID COMMITTEES, AREA COMMITTEES, FIGHT CRIME COMMITTEES, AND CLEAN HONG KONG COMMITTEES.

+AND FINALLY, BUILDING ON THIS PLATFORM OF COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS, WE HAVE ESTABLISHED A MORE INTIMATE FORM OF DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION, WHICH IS, IN SOME SENSE, A CULMINATION OF THESE EFFORTS IN COMMUNITY BUILDING.

+IT WAS SAID THAT HONG KONG PEOPLE HAD NO INTEREST IN ELECTIONS, BUT WELL OVER 300 000 PEOPLE VOTED THIS YEAR IN DISTRICT BOARD ELECTIONS, + MR AKERS-JONES SAID.

HE WENT ON TO SAY THAT DURING THE 70'S THERE WAS A RENAISSANCE IN THE ARTISTIC AND CULTURAL LIFE, PROVIDING THE EVIDENCE OF GREAT CHANGE IN THE LIFE OF THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG.

+FINALLY, DURING THIS LAST DECADE HONG KONG HAS BECOME A FAR EASTERN CENTRE FOR INTERNATIONAL BANKING, COMMERCE AND COMMUNICATIONS AND, IN THE LAST FEW YEARS, TRAINS, PLANES AND FERRIES BEGAN TRAVELLING FROM HONG KONG TO MANY PARTS OF CHINA STARTING A NEW ERA OF CO-OPERATION AND INVESTMENT.

+LET US LOOK BEYOND OUR IMMEDIATE PROBLEMS AND REMEMBER, NOT THE DECLINE IN THE PROPERTY MARKET, BUT THE FACT THAT WE ARE BUILDING 40 000 FLATS A YEAR IN THE PUBLIC HOUSING PROGRAMME, THAT WE ARE CONSTRUCTING THE MASS TRANSIT RAILWAY ON HONG KONG ISLAND, THE EASTERN ISLAND CORRIDOR, THE NORTHERN CIRCULAR ROAD, PLANNING A FURTHER EXTENSION OF THE CONTAINER PORT AND BUILDING SIX NEW TOWNS ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

+WE ARE BUILDING THE ACADEMY FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS AND A VAST CULTURAL CENTRE IN KOWLOON, THE NEW HONG KONG AND SHANGHAI BANK IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION AND THE SITE IS BEING CLEARED FOR A NEW BANK OF CHINA BUILDING.

+LET US REMEMBER, AS THE FIGURES OF UNEMPLOYMENT IN OTHER COUNTRIES CONTINUE TO INCREASE, THAT WE HAVE WORK FOR OUR PEOPLE AND THAT OUR ECONOMY CONTINUES TO GROW.

+LET US REMEMBER THAT THE HIGHEST AUTHORITIES IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA AND IN GREAT BRITAIN HAVE AGREED THAT OUR STABILITY AND PROSPERITY SHALL BE MAINTAINED AND ARE SEEKING AN AGREEMENT TO ENSURE THAT THIS SHALL BE SO.

+THE WORK OF THE 1970'S, WHICH SET THE COURSE FOR DEVELOPMENT IN SO MANY FIELDS, WHICH WARMED THE HEARTS OF OUR PEOPLE AND FIRED THEIR IMAGINATIONS, CONTINUES.

+THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG HAVE BUILT A GREAT CITY IN THE NINETEEN SEVENTIES AND THIS GIVES US A CORPORATE LIFE AND STRENGTH.

+IT GIVES US THE CONFIDENCE TO GO ON BUILDING AND OUR RESOLVE SHOULD BE NURTURED AND STRENGTHENED BY THE ASSURANCES ABOUT THE FUTURE THAT WE HAVE RECEIVED, HE SAID.

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