XN000022-1986-11-01 — Page 5

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1986

THOSE ALREADY HERE WERE GIVEN THREE DAYS TO REGISTER FOR AN IDENTITY CARD.

+YOU CAN IMAGINE WHAT A CHAOTIC SITUATION IT WAS WHEN OVER 5 000 APPLICATIONS FOR IDENTITY CARD WERE FILED, ALL WITHIN THREE DAYS,+ MR LEE SAID.

TO DETECT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WHO HAD SNEAKED INTO HONG KONG, LEGISLATION WAS ENACTED IN 1980 MAKING IT COMPULSORY FOR RESIDENTS TO CARRY PROOF OF IDENTITY. A NEW FORM OF IDENTITY CARD WHICH WAS DIFFICULT TO FORGE WAS ALSO DESIGNED.

THE JOB OF RENEWING ALL IDENTITY CARDS STARTED FROM MAY 1983 AND UP TO THE END OF 1985, 2 499 361 RESIDENTS HAVE HAD THEIR IDENTITY CARDS RENEWED.

LAST YEAR, MORE THAN 40 MILLION PASSENGERS PASSED THROUGH IMMIGRATION CONTROL POINTS, A 20-FOLD INCREASE OVER PASSENGER TRAFFIC IN 1961.

THE DEPARTMENT ALSO ISSUED ONE MILLION TRAVEL DOCUMENTS TO HONG KONG RESIDENTS IN 1985 AND HANDLED 840 APPLICATIONS FOR NATURALISATION.

WITH A WORKFORCE OF ONLY 201 IN 1961 THE DEPARTMENT HAS GROWN IN STRENGTH OVER 25 YEARS TO 4 710. COUPLED WITH THOROUGH STAFF TRAINING AND THE USE OF ADVANCED EQUIPMENT, THE DEPARTMENT IS COPING WITH THE INCREASED WORKLOAD EFFICIENTLY.

A NEW ASSISTANT IMMIGRATION OFFICER RECEIVES 17 WEEKS OF INDUCTION TRAINING IN ORDINANCE AND STANDING ORDERS, WORKING PROCEDURE, VISA REGULATIONS AND FOOTDRILL. IN-SERVICE COURSES WILL ALSO BE CONDUCTED WHEN NECESSARY.

THE DEPARTMENT IS QUICK TO USE ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY TO BOOST EFFICIENCY. IN 1976 A TRAFFIC INDEX COMPUTER REPLACED THE PUNCH CARDS USED IN PROCESSING TRAVELLERS' RECORDS.

IN 1983 THE DEPARTMENT ADOPTED THE CINDEX COMPUTER SYSTEM WHICH PROVIDES RAPID RETRIEVALS OF RECORDS AND MAINTAINS A CENTRAL INDEX OF MICROFILMED RECORDS.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE, MR LEE SAID THE DEPARTMENT WOULD HAVE BETTER FACILITIES TO HANDLE THE FLOW OF HUMAN TRAFFIC. IN THE BEGINNING OF NEXT YEAR THERE WILL BE A NEW TERMINAL AT LO WU- A MODERN HONG KONG-CHINA FERRY TERMINAL WILL BECOME OPERATIONAL IN 1987 AND A THIRD VEHICULAR CROSSING POINT AT LOK MA CHAU IN THE FOLLOWING YEAR.

/FUNDS HAVE