XN000022-1983-11-17 — Page 13

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1983

+THE COMPLETION OF THIS SCHOOL IS THEREFORE A PART OF THE CONTINUOUS PROCESS OF MATCHING SUPPLY AND DEMAND IN EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES, HE SAID.

MR CHAN SAID, BEING A FORMER PROJECT MANAGER OF TUEN MUN, HE WAS INVOLVED IN THE EARLY STAGES OF PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEW TOWN.

AND IT WAS WITH CONSIDERABLE SATISFACTION THAT HE SAW FOR HIMSELF THE PROGRESS MADE.

+FOR TUEN MUN, THE LAST DECADE HAS BEEN A PERIOD OF VAST CHANGES, FROM LARGE-SCALE RECLAMATIONS IN CASTLE PEAK BAY TO COMPLETION OF TUEN MUN ROAD AND MASSIVE HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS WHICH HAVE DRAMATICALLY ALTERED THE SKYLINE, HE SAID.

THE POPULATION OF THE NEW TOWN HAD REACHED 230 000 AND NO FEWER THAN SEVEN PUBLIC HOUSING ESTATES HAD VIRTUALLY BEEN COMPLETED ALONG WITH MANY PRIVATE RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENTS.

BY THE EARLY 1990'S THE TOWN WAS EXPECTED TO BE FULLY DEVELOPED WITH A MAXIMUM POPULATION OF 480 000.

CHAN SAID THAT INDUSTRY, TOO, HAD EXPANDED SEVERAL-FOLD AND HAD CONTRIBUTED TO THE TERRITORY'S ECONOMY.

AT THE LAST COUNT, SOME 1 400 FACTORIES HAD BEEN ESTABLISHED

TO ENSURE THAT PROVIDING JOBS FOR ABOUT 30 000 PEOPLE, HE SAID. AMPLE JOB OPPORTUNITIES WOULD BE AVAILABLE FOR THE LOCAL POPULATION, THE PLANNERS HAD SET ASIDE ADDITIONAL AREAS OF LAND FOR INDUSTRY IN THE TOWN PLAN.

WITH THE GROWTH OF HOUSING AND INDUSTRY, THERE HAD BEEN AN INCREASING DEMAND FOR MORE COMMUNITY FACILITIES TO MEET THE NEEDS AND DESIRES OF RESIDENTS, MR CHAN SAID.

IN ADDITION TO MANY FACILITIES ALREADY COMPLETED OR BEING BUILT, INCLUDING SCHOOLS, POLICE AND FIRE STATIONS, CLINICS AND A MODERN COMMUNITY AND INDOOR SPORTS CENTRE IN SAN HUI, BUILT BY THE YAN OI TONG, WORK HAD NOW STARTED ON SUCH MAJOR CULTURAL AND RECREATIONAL PROJECTS AS THE CIVIC AND CULTURAL COMPLEX, THE TOWN PARK AND A SWIMMING POOL COMPLEX.

+CONSTRUCTION OF THE 1 500-BED TUEN MUN DISTRICT HOSPITAL WILL ALSO BE STARTING VERY SHORTLY, HE ADDED.

THE SCHOOL WAS DONATED BY THE WIDOW OF PHILANTHROPIST, BUNNAN TONG, WHO DIED IN 1976.

IT IS AN AIDED SECONDARY SCHOOL, WITH 24 CLASSROOMS AND THERE ARE AT PRESENT MORE THAN 700 STUDENTS.

MR

CONSTRUCTION STARTED IN JANUARY, 1981, AND WAS COMPLETED IN JUNE, 1982, AT A COST OF $10.25 MILLION.

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