XN000022-1983-11-10 — Page 10

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1983

+BUS TIMETABLES BECOME MORE CONVENIENT, REFUSE COLLECTION CREATES LESS NUISANCE, FACTORY WORKERS FIND THEY CAN MORE EASILY FIND A PLACE TO EAT, FOOTBRIDGES ARE BUILT, CAR PARKS PROVIDED, MAXICAB AND FERRY SERVICES ARE RE-ARRANGED.

+ALL THESE MATTERS AND MORE BESIDES COME UNDER THE QUIET SCRUTINY OF THE DISTRICT BOARD AND ITS COMMITTEES, HE SAID,

CITING KWUN TONG AS AN EXAMPLE OF THIS QUIET APPLICATION TO PROBLEMS AFFECTING THE PEOPLE, HE SAID: THE KWUN TONG DISTRICT BOARD WAS THE FIRST TO BEGIN TO TACKLE THE ANARCHY INFECTING THE ENVIRONMENT, TO CLEAR AWAY OBSTRUCTIONS AND STRUCTURES AND TO RESTORE PAVEMENTS AND FOOTPATHS TO THEIR PROPER USE.

+ IT HAS HELPED FIND STUDY ROOMS FOR STUDENTS LIVING IN CRAMPED HOMES IT HAS MADE SUCCESSFUL REPRESENTATIONS ON THE FERRY SERVICE; IT HAS WORKED OUT A NIGHT DOCTOR SERVICE; PRESSED SUCCESSFULLY FOR THE EARLY IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CHA KWO LING ROAD; IMPROVED SQUATTER AREAS AND ORGANISED FESTIVALS.

+WHAT KWUN TONG HAS DONE HAS BEEN ECHOED IN DIFFERENT WAYS BY ALL THE DISTRICT BOARDS.

MR AKERS-JONES CONTINUED THAT THE BOARDS HAD EXTENDED THEIR DISCUSSIONS TO TERRITORY-WIDE ISSUES SUCH AS METRICATION, FILM CLASS IF ICATION, AMUSEMENT GAME CENTRES AND TAXI POLICY.

IN THE CASE OF THE REPORT ON EDUCATION, HE SAID INTENSIVE DISCUSSIONS WERE HELD BY ALL 18 BOARDS AND THE IR REPORTS WOULD PROVE A VALUABLE INDICATION OF PUBLIC REACTION TO THE NUMEROUS HIGHLY COMPLEX AND CONTROVERS I AL QUESTIONS WHICH WERE INVOLVED IN MODIFYING HONG KONG'S EDUCATION SYSTEM.

IN YAU MA TEI, THE DISTRICT BOARD HAD INITIATED THE PILOT SCHEME ON THE MANAGEMENT OF PRIVATE MULTI-STOREY RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS WHICH WOULD FORM THE BASIS FOR ACTION TO TACKLE THAT MOST INTRACTABLE OF PROBLEMS -- BUILDING MANAGEMENT.

THE BOARDS HAD ALSO BECOME A FOCUS AND A CATALYST FOR DISTRICT RECREATIONAL AND CULTURAL PROGRAMMES.

+FUNDS DEVOTED BY DISTRICT BOARDS TO SUCH ACTIVITIES ARE BUT A SMALL PROPORTION OF THE RESOURCES THAT ARE GENERATED AS A RESULT OF THE INITIATIVE OF THE BOARDS, HE SAID.

+AND, AS THEY DEVELOP EXPERIENCE, THESE ACTIVITIES ARE BECOMING MORE WIDE-RANGING AND SPREAD THEIR APPEAL.

ON SQUATTER AREA IMPROVEMENT, MR AKERS-JONES SAID THIS WAS AN AREA WHERE THE DISTRICT BOARDS HAD MADE SOME PROGRESS IN DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES FOOTPATHS WERE REPAIRED, SHELTERS AND RECREATIONAL AREAS WERE BUILT AND SO FORTH.

NOTING THAT IT IS NOT EASY TO IMPROVE SOME OF THE SQUATTER AREAS ON THE STEEP HILLSIDES OF SHAU KEI WAN AND KWUN TONG, HE AGREED THAT THE BOARDS, WHERE POSSIBLE, SHOULD PLAY A MORE ACTIVE ROLE IN ASSISTING WITH THE IMPROVEMENT OF SQUATTER AREAS.

/TOUCHING ON

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