XN000022-1986-05-11 — Page 7

SUNDAY, MAY 11, 1986

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THE AGED MUST BE MORE ROAD SAFETY CONSCIOUS

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THE DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL WELFARE MRS ANSON CHAN, TODAY (SUNDAY) CALLED ON ELDERLY PEOPLE TO PAY MORE ATTENTION TO ROAD SAFETY.

SPEAKING AT THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE ROAD SAFETY VARIETY SHOW FOR THE ELDERLY AT THE CITY HALL ORGANISED BY THE ROAD SAFETY ASSOCIATION, SHE NOTED THAT THE NUMBER OF DEATHS INVOLVING OLD PEOPLE RESULTING FROM TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS HAD RISEN LAST YEAR DESPITE A SLIGHT DROP IN THE OVERALL NUMBER OF FATAL TRAFFIC ACCIDENT CASES.

+A TOTAL OF 309 PEOPLE DIED AS A RESULT OF TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS LAST YEAR, AND 148 OF THEM, OR SOME 48 PER CENT, WERE PEOPLE OVER 60 YEARS OF AGE. THIS SITUATION CAUSES SOME CONCERN, MRS CHAN SAID.

OLD PEOPLE ARE NOT AS AGILE AS THE YOUNG, AND ACCIDENTS CAN EASILY OCCUR IF THEY ARE NOT CAREFUL WHEN CROSSING BUSY ROADS.

MRS CHAN HOPED THAT THE ELDERLY ATTENDING THE VARIETY SHOW WOULD PASS ON THE MESSAGE OF ROAD SAFETY TO OTHER ELDERLY PEOPLE TO ENSURE SAFETY FOR ALL.

SUCCESSFUL CLOSE FOR TREE PLANTING SCHEME

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ENTHUSIASTIC PUBLIC SUPPORT HAS MADE THE 1986 COMMUNITY TREE PLANTING SCHEME ORGANISED BY THE AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES DEPARTMENT AN UNPRECEDENTED SUCCESS.

THE FIVE-WEEK PROJECT, WHICH ENDED TODAY (SUNDAY), ATTRACTED MORE THAN 17 000 PEOPLE WHO VOLUNTEERED THEIR SERVICES IN PLANTING 20 000 TREE SEEDLINGS IN SHING MUN, TAI MO SHAN AND OTHER COUNTRY PARKS DEVASTATED BY FIRES EARLY THIS YEAR.

+WE ARE GREATLY ENCOURAGED BY THIS NEW RECORD WHICH REPRESENTS ALMOST A THREE FOLD RISE OVER LAST YEAR'S FIGURE OF 7 000 TREES PLANTED BY 6 700 PEOPLE,+ THE DEPARTMENT'S ASSISTANT DIRECTOR (CONSERVATION AND COUNTRY PARKS), MR K.C. IU, SAID THIS MORNING.

MR IU WAS ADDRESSING MEMBERS OF THE LIONS AND LIONESS CLUBS OF BRAEMAR HILL AT A BRIEF CEREMONY TO MARK THE YEAR'S LAST TREE PLANTING DAY FOR ORGANISED GROUPS AT POK FU LAM COUNTRY PARK.

/+THE AIM