XN000022-1984-05-02 — Page 19

WEDNESDAY, MAY,

18

DB MEMBERS SHOWING GREATER INITIATIVE

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DISTRICT BOARDS ARE BEGINNING TO DEVELOP A WATCH DOG ROLE, MONITORING NOT ONLY PROGRESS ON PARTICULAR PROJECTS BUT ALSO THE PERFORMANCE OF GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS, THE REGIONAL SECRETARY FOR HONG KONG AND KOWLOON, MR BARRIE WIGGHAM, SAID TODAY (WEDNESDAY). DESCRIBING THIS AS A NEW DEVELOPMENT IN HONG KONG, HE ADDED: +ALTHOUGH NOT ALL DEPARTMENTS HAVE YET ADJUSTED TO IT, IT IS A NATURAL AND HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT.+

+1 AM SURE. WE WILL SEE EVEN. GREATER INTEREST IN THIS ROLE ON THE PART OF UNOFFICIAL MEMBERS OF DISTRICT BOARDS, PARTICULARLY NEXT YEAR WITH THE INCREASE IN ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES, AND WHEN BOARDS CHOOSE THE IR OWN CHAIRMAN.

+THIS, AS I SEE IT, IS AN ESSENTIAL ASPECT OF DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION, AND WILL ENSURE THAT A GOVERNMENT WHICH WAS PREVIOUSLY PERHAPS OVER-CENTRALISED AND OVER BUREAUCRATIC, BECOMES MORE RESPONSIVE AND MORE FLEXIBLE.+

MR WIGGHAM WAS SPEAKING ON THE EVOLVING ROLE OF DISTRICT BOARDS IN THE CONSULTATIVE PROCESS+ AT A LUNCHEON GATHERING OF THE ROTARY CLUB OF KOWLOON-WEST.

HE SAID THAT MOST IMPRESSIVE IN THE PROCESS OF CONSULTATION WAS THE ENTHUSIASTIC RESPONSE BY DISTRICT BOARDS AND THE SERIOUSNESS WITH WHICH MEMBERS VIEWED THEIR ROLE AS AN ORGANISATION FOR REFLECTING PUBLIC OPINION AND ARTICULATING ADVICE AND CRITICISM.

+THEY NOW TAKE THE INITIATIVE IN SEEKING TO DISCUSS MAJOR POLICY ISSUES, RATHER THAN MERELY RESPONDING TO GOVERNMENT REQUESTS FOR VIEWS, + HE SAID.

+AND THIS I WOULD REGARD AS A REFLECTION OF GROWING CONFIDENCE IN THEMSELVES.+

SUCH MAJOR POLICY ISSUES AS THE REVIEW OF PUBLIC HOUSING ALLOCATION POLICIES AND THE 1983 TAXI REVIEW WERE BEING PUT TO THE BOARDS FOR ADVICE AND COMMENT.

+NOR WILL IT HAVE ESCAPED YOUR ATTENTION THAT THE SUBJECT UPPERMOST IN THE MINDS OF MOST PEOPLE RECENTLY, THE FUTURE, IS BEING OPENLY DISCUSSED BY DISTRICT BOARDS, WITH THEIR VIEWS BEING PASSED ON IN FULL, MR WIGGHAM SAID.

+ I AM SURE THEY WILL WANT TO SPEAK UP AGAIN WHEN MORE DETAIL OF AN AGREEMENT IS KNOWN.+

.MR WIGGHAM NOTED, THAT THE DISTRICT BOARDS HAD ALSO TAKEN A WIDER REACH INTO THE COMMUNITY BY ASSOCIATING THEMSELVES WITH ESTABLISHED LOCAL ORGANISATIONS, SUCH AS THE AREA COMMITTEES.

/+ACCORDINGLY DISTRICT