XN000022-1984-03-22 — Page 13

THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 1984

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+THERE IS ALSO AN URGENT NEED TO UPGRADE MANY OF THE OLD ESTATES IN THE DISTRICT BUILT IN THE 1960'S TO RELIEVE THE CRAMPED AND CONGESTED LIVING CONDITIONS, AND IN THIS RESPECT, IMPROVEMENT WORK HAS RECENTLY BEEN CARRIED OUT ON TSUI PING ROAD ESTATE AND JORDAN VALLEY ESTATE, HE SAID.

MR MAK SAID THE THIRD FACTOR, WHICH WAS MORE TANGIBLE AND CONCRETE, WAS THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE JUNK BAY NEW TOWN AND THE POSSIBLE CONSTRUCTION OF AN EASTERN HARBOUR CROSSING.

BOTH PROJECTS WOULD GENERATE NEW TRAFFIC PATTERNS, EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES AND HOUSING DEMANDS, AND PUT KWUN TONG IN NEW RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE REST OF THE TERRITORY.

BESIDES PROVIDING NEW FACILITIES, MR MAK ALSO RECOGNISED THE INFLUENCE OF THE PAST DEVELOPMENTS IN THE DISTRICT AND STRESSED THE IMPORTANCE OF UPGRADING AND MAKING THE BEST USE OF THOSE ALREADY EXISTED.

+ IN PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE, IT IS OF CONSIDERABLE IMPORTANCE THAT WE DO NOT FORGET THAT THE BASIC INFRASTRUCTURE OF KWUN TONG WAS BUILT DURING THE 1960'S, HE SAID.

+MUCH OF THE DISTRICT WAS CONSTRUCTED AT A TIME WHEN THE NEED TO PROVIDE LAND FOR HOUSING AND INDUSTRY MITIGATED AGAINST PROVIDING WHAT WOULD TODAY BE REGARDED AS A SENSIBLE BALANCE BETWEEN THE COMPETING DEMANDS FOR HOUSING, EMPLOYMENT, TRANSPORT SERVICES, EDUCATION, MEDICAL, SOCIAL WELFARE AS WELL AS RECREATION AND COMMUNITY FACILITIES.

+THE RESULT HAS BEEN THAT THE SUPPLY OF SERVICES AND FACILITIES HAS NOT KEPT PACE WITH THE RAPID BUILD-UP OF POPULATION, AND ALTHOUGH SOME OF THE PROBLEMS WHICH WE NOW FACE SUCH AS SHORTAGES OF HOSPITAL BEDS AND SECONDARY SCHOOL PLACES CAN BE REMEDIED THROUGH THE CONSTRUCTION OF NEW HOSPITALS AND SCHOOLS, WE ALSO HAVE TO BEAR IN MIND THE FACT THAT NEW DEVELOPMENTS CANNOT ALONE SOLVE ALL THE PROBLEMS.+

MR MAK SAID THESE FACTORS WERE OF COURSE NOT THE ONLY ONES THAT WOULD SHAPE THE CHARACTER OF KWUN TONG IN THE YEARS TO COME.

+ IT IS ONLY BY IDENTIFYING THESE AND OTHER INFLUENCES THAT WE CAN SUCCESSFULLY PLAN AND CO-ORDINATE THE FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DISTRICT, HE SAID.

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