XN000022-1985-09-25 — Page 16

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1985

EMPHASIS ON BALANCED ISLANDS GROWTH

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THE GOVERNMENT WILL CONTINUE TO ENSURE THAT MODERN DEVELOPMENTS UNDERTAKEN IN THE ISLANDS DISTRICT WILL BE COMPATIBLE WITH THE RURAL ENVIRONMENT AND CONDUCIVE TO THE DISTRICT'S POTENTIAL FOR TOURISM.

THIS WAS STATED BY ISLANDS DISTRICT OFFICER, MR WILLIAM YAP, AT A LUNCHEON MEETING OF THE ROTARY CLUB OF HONG KONG ISLAND EAST THIS (WEDNESDAY) AFTERNOON.

MR YAP STRESSED THAT IN PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING DEVELOPMENT AND REDEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS IN THE DISTRICT, EMPHASIS HAD BEEN, AND WOULD BE, PLACED ON STRIKING A REASONABLE BALANCE BETWEEN PRESERVING THE NATURAL SCENERY, AND PROVIDING OPEN AND RECREATIONAL SPACES ON THE ONE HAND, AND DEVELOPING HOUSING AND COMMUNITY FACILITIES ON THE OTHER.

OUTLINING VARIOUS +DEVELOPMENT PACKAGES,+ HE SAID THAT THEY WERE ARRANGED TO IMPROVE THE LIVING AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS OF THE ISLANDS, AND TO PROVIDE COMMUNITY FACILITIES AND SERVICES.

FORMULATED BY THE NEW TERRITORIES DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, THE +PACKAGES+ WERE WORKS DESIGNED TO PRODUCE A BALANCED AND CONCURRENT DEVELOPMENT OF HOUSING, INDUSTRY AND COMMUNITY FACILITIES IN RELATION TO THE POPULATION OF RESPECTIVE ISLANDS.

MR YAP SAID THAT THE FOUR MAIN CENTRES OF THE ISLANDS DISTRICT - CHEUNG CHAU, PENG CHAU, MUI WO AND TAI 0 - HAD BEEN DESIGNATED AS +PACKAGE DEVELOPMENT AREAS, WHICH TOGETHER WOULD COVER SOME 296 HECTARES OF LAND AT AN ESTIMATED COST OF ALMOST $300 MILLION.

MAJOR COMMUNITY FACILITIES EITHER BEING PLANNED OR DEVELOPED IN THESE AREAS INCLUDED SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANTS, INCINERATORS, ABATTOIRS, MARKET COMPLEXES, SCHOOLS, FIRE STATIONS, A SPORT COMPLEX AND RECREATIONAL OPEN SPACES.

ALSO INCLUDED WAS A RURAL PUBLIC HOUSING PROGRAMME UNDER WHICH LOW-RISE HOUSING ESTATES WERE BUILT IN TAI O AND CHEUNG CHAU - THE LUNG TIN AND CHEUNG KWAI ESTATES HOUSING 1 360 AND 2 500 PERSONS RESPECTIVELY.

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+ADDITIONAL SITES FOR PUBLIC HOUSING ESTATES HAVE BEEN SET AS IDE IN THE PACKAGE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES.

+PENDING DECISIONS BY THE GOVERNMENT AND HOUSING AUTHORITY, MORE ESTATES ARE LIKELY TO BE CONSTRUCTED IN MUI WO, TAI 0, CHEUNG CHAU AND PENG CHAU - IN THAT ORDER, MR YAP SAID.

HE ALSO SAID THAT THERE HAD BEEN AN INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE LIVING IN THE DISTRICT SINCE THE LAST CENSUS IN 1981 REACHING A FIGURE OF ABOUT 80 000 WITH MORE THAN 40 PER CENT LIVING ON CHEUNG CHAU.

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