XN000022-1984-04-25 — Page 9

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 1984

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SPEAKING IN THE RESUMED BUDGET DEBATE, MR AKERS-JONES SAID THE WIDE PUBLIC REACTION TO THE PROPOSALS OUTLINED BY THE CHIEF SECRETARY IN MID-FEBRUARY WAS BOTH A REFLECTION OF AN INCREASING PUBLIC INTEREST IN THE BENEFITS ARISING FROM IMPROVED LOCAL ADMINISTRATION AND OF THE DESIRE THAT THERE SHOULD BE MORE OPPORTUNITY FOR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES TO PLAY A PART IN GOVERNMENT.

HE REFERRED TO A RECENT CALL BY THE HON LYDIA DUNN THAT HONG KONG MUST ADVANCE TOWARDS A MORE REPRESENTATIVE FORM OF GOVERNMENT INVOLVING A GRADUAL TRANSFER OF REAL POWER FROM OFFICIALS TO THE UNOFFICIALS.

THE PROPOSED MEASURES, HE SAID, MARKED AN IMPORTANT STEP IN THIS DIRECTION AND THE SYSTEM WAS BEING ADAPTED BY REFORMING AND STRENGTHENING THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE REPRESENTATIVE STRUCTURE.

MR AKERS-JONES SAID DISTRICT BOARDS PROVIDED AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ENTHUSIASTIC AND DEDICATED CITIZENS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF LOCAL AFFAIRS. THEY ALSO PROVIDED A USEFUL EXPERIENCE FOR POTENTIAL LEADERS BEFORE THEY MOVE ON TO HIGHER LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION.

+THE APPOINTMENT OF DISTRICT BOARD MEMBERS TO CENTRAL GOVERNMENT BOARDS AND COMMITTEES, INCLUDING THE LEGISLATIVE AND EXECUTIVE COUNCILS HAS NOW BECOME A FEATURE OF OUR ADMINISTRATION AND THIS TREND WILL NO DOUBT CONTINUE, HE SAID,

MR AKERS-JONES NOTED THAT WHILE THE PROPOSAL RELATING TO THE SETTING UP OF A NEW REGIONAL COUNCIL TO COVER THE AREAS NOT UNDER THE AEGIS OF THE URBAN COUNCIL HAD ATTRACTED MOST PUBLIC COMMENT, THE OTHER THREE PROPOSALS WERE OF NO LESS SIGNIFICANCE.

THE PROPOSAL TO INCREASE THE RATIO OF ELECTED TO APPOINTED UNOFFICIAL MEMBERS TO 2 1 HAD SIGNIFICANT IMPLICATIONS AND RECEIVED GENERAL SUPPORT. THIS WOULD MARK A MAJOR STEP FORWARD FOR DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION, FOR IT WOULD MEAN THAT FROM 1985 THE DISTRICT BOARDS WOULD HAVE AN ELECTED MAJORITY.

WITH REGARD TO THE GEOGRAPHICAL BOUNDARIES OF THE DISTRICT BOARDS, HE SAID, THE CONSENSUS APPEARED TO FAVOUR NO CHANGE EXCEPT IN TSUEN WAN, WHERE TWO BOARDS WERE FAVOURED -- ONE COVERING TSUEN WAN ITSELF AND THE OTHER KWAI CHUNG AND TSING YI ISLAND. THE DETAILED IMPLICATIONS OF HAVING TWO BOARDS IN TSUEN WAN WERE BEING EXAMINED, HE SAID.

THE THIRD PROPOSAL, INVOLVING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ROLE OF DISTRICT BOARDS IN THE USE AND RUNNING OF LOCAL COMMUNITY FACILITIES OTHER THAN SPECIALISED FACILITIES, WAS ANOTHER IMPORTANT PROPOSAL WIDELY WELCOMED.

PARTICIPATION BY LOCAL PEOPLE IN THE RUNNING OF COMMUNITY FACILITIES SUCH AS TOWN HALLS IN YUEN LONG AND TSUEN WAN HAD PROVED VALUABLE IN PROMOTING THE USE OF THESE BUILDINGS, HE NOTED.

/+THE PROPOSAL