XN000022-1991-01-24 — Page 7

THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 1991.

CLOSE

COULD I JUST ANSWER MR ELLIOTT FIRST WHO IS BEING A VERY QUESTIONER. WHEN WE ARE DISCUSSING ANYTHING AT ALL WE ALWAYS ARE LOOKING AND WE ALWAYS HAVE BEEN LOOKING AT VARIOUS ALTERNATIVES AND THAT'S BEEN SOMETHING THAT HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE CASE. WE DON'T HAVE SET IN CONCRETE, ONE PLAN WHICH IS IMMUTABLE. THERE WILL BE NO SENSE IN DOING THAT; THERE IS ALWAYS A QUESTION IN A MAJOR PROJECT LIKE THIS OF LOOKING AT HOW SHOULD YOU BEST PHASE IT. IF YOU

IF YOU TAKE AN EXAMPLE, SIMILAR ONE,

THE MTR WAS VERY SIMILAR TO THAT. THERE WAS NO SINGLE BLUEPRINT WHICH WAS THEN PUT INTO EFFECT WITHOUT ANY CHANGE. THE PLANS CHANGED WHILE IT WAS BEING IMPLEMENTED. I HOPE I'VE NOW ANSWERED YOUR QUESTION, (INTERRUPTION: SO SCALING DOWN IS POSSIBLE...) I MUST SOMEBODY ELSE AS WELL OTHERWISE IT WILL BE A ONE-MAN PRESS CONFERENCE.

ANSWER

•

審議

DID You EXPLAIN THE MISCONCEPTION BETWEEN CONSIDERATION AND

(EXAMINATION) WHICH IS IN THE JOINT DECLARATION?

GOVERNOR:

WE DID NOT HAVE ONE OF THOSE RATHER OBSCURE ARGUMENTS ABOUT INTERPRETATION OF WORDS. NO WE DIDN'T.

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YOU'VE MENTIONED THAT THERE IS BLUEPRINT FOR THE AIRPORT BUT DO YOU MEAN THAT THE GOVERNMENT WILL SHELVE THE AIRPORT PLANS IN THE FUTURE?

GOVERNOR:

SORRY, COULD YOU SAY THAT AGAIN?

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NOW?

DOES IT MEAN THAT THE AIRPORT PLAN WILL BE SMALLER THAN RIGHT

GOVERNOR:

WHAT I WAS TRYING TO SAY WAS THAT WITH A VERY BIG PROJECT OF THIS SORT WE ARE ALL THE TIME, AND WE HAVE BEEN ALL THE TIME, LOOKING AT DIFFERENT WAYS OF DOING IT, DIFFERENT WAYS OF PHASING IT. AT THE END OF THE DAY YOU'VE GOT TO FINISH UP WITH AN AIRPORT AND IT'S GOT TO BE AN AIRPORT WHICH EVENTUALLY HAS TWO RUNWAYS, IF IT'S GOING TO BE A WORTHWHILE, WORLD STANDARD AIRPORT. BUT ALL THE TIME WE ARE LOOKING AT THE QUESTION OF HOW SHOULD WE BEST PHASE IT; WHAT

IS, IN OTHER WORDS, WHAT IS THE MOST COST EFFECTIVE WAY OF DOING IT, AND THAT IS SOMETHING WE'VE ALWAYS BEEN DOING AND CERTAINLY WE WILL GO ON DOING IT. AND WE WILL GO ON EXPLAINING THESE IDEAS TO THE CHINESE SIDE AND DISCUSSING THEM.

/Q.:

SIR, IS