XN000022-1988-11-09 — Page 37

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1988

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HOWEVER, HE POINTED OUT THAT SINCE THIS POLICY WOULD HAVE BERN IN OPERATION FOR SOME TIME BY 1989-90, IT WAS APPROPRIATE TO ADVISE THE AUTHORITY TO RECONVENE THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE FOR A REVIEW OF THE CURRENT DOMESTIC RENT POLICY NEXT YEAR.

TURNING TO OTHER HOUSING RELATED TOPICS, MR PANG SAID SOME

REAL PROGRESS WAS BEING MADE IN SQUATTER CLEARANCES.

BY NEXT YEAR, A TOTAL OF 32 000 SQUATTERS OF THE TWO LARGEST REMAINING URBAN SQUATTER AREAS AT SHAU KEI WAN AND DIAMOND HILL WOULD HAVE BEEN CLEARED, HE SAID.

IN ADDITION, A GOOD START HAD BEEN MADE IN THE CLEARANCE OF THE KOWLOON WALLED CITY.

"AFTER THESE MAJOR CLEARANCES, AND BARRING UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES, WE ARE CONFIDENT THAT OUR TARGET OF CLEARING ALL URBAN SQUATTERS BY THE MID-90S CAN BE MET, MR PANG SAID.

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PRODUCTION ASSESSED,

ON THE LABOUR SHORTAGE, HE SAID ITS FULL EFFECTS ON TARGETS UNDER THE LONG TERM HOUSING STRATEGY HAD YET TO BE BUT THE HOUSING DEPARTMENT IS DOING WHAT IT COULD TO ENCOURAGE GREATER MECHANISATION IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY.

HOWEVER, HE SAID THAT FOR THIS FINANCIAL YEAR, THE AUTHORITY'S PRODUCTION WAS EXPECTED TO REACH ABOUT 60 000 FLATS WHICH SHOULD BE MORE THAN SUFFICIENT TO MAKE UP LAST YEAR'S SHORTFALL.

FURTHER MORE, THIS FIGURE WOULD REPRESENT THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF FLATS EVER COMPLETED WITHIN A SINGLE YEAR SINCE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE HOUSING AUTHORITY.

TO DATE, ABOUT 55 PER CENT OF HOUSING AUTHORITY'S PROJECTS ARK RUNNING BEHIND SCHEDULE.

BUT, MR PANG SAID AS MOST OF THESE WERE ONLY MINOR DELAYS, RANGING FROM AN APPROXIMATE AVERAGE OF THREE TO SIX MONTHS, HE WAS CONFIDENT THAT IN THE LONG RUN THE OVERALL PRODUCTION TARGETS SHOULD BE ACHIEVABLE, GIVEN APPROPRIATE INCENTIVES AND SUITABLE ADJUSTMENTS TO THE PROGRAMMES.

HOUSING BLOCKS

ON REDEVELOPMENT, MR PANG SAID THE COMPREHENSIVE REDEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME AIMED TO REDEVELOP OVER 500 OLDER PUBLIC BETWEEN NOW AND 2001.

"FOR THOSE BLOCKS WHICH ARE NOT YET DUE OR SCHEDULED FOR REDEVELOPMENT, WE HAVE A CONTINUING RESPONSIBILITY TO MAINTAIN AND INTRODUCE IMPROVEMENTS, MR PANG SAID.

HE SAID DURING THE PAST TWO YEARS, ABOUT 170 000 TENANTS IN 42 000 FLATS AND BENEFITTED FROM THE REPAIRS AND IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMME.

IN

FURTHER

VARIOUS

TOTAL OF 70 000 FLATS

ESTATES WOULD ALSO

BE

IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, A INVOLVING SOME 280 000 TENANTS RENOVATED, HE ADDED.

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