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A redevelopment project at Stanley Prison will provide 700 places by 1998. There will be an additional 250 places when the Chi Ma Wan Lower Detention Centre is converted into a female drug addiction treatment centre later this year.

A site search for new accommodation is also under way to help solve the problem.

Turning to the management of Vietnamese migrant detention centres, Mr Patten said significant progress had been made since the Comprehensive Plan of Action was implemented in 1989.

Over 46,000 migrants have returned home voluntarily, and another 1,700 through the orderly return programme.

The success achieved, the Governor noted, owed much to the professional and effective restraint as well as the bravery and skill of the CSD staff.

The Governor also commended the department's preventive and rehabilitative programmes, which help young people to turn away from crime, and expressed gratitude to the staff for their dedicated service to the community.

End

Consumer price indices for December 1995

Consumer price inflation in terms of Consumer Price Index (A) eased further to 6.6% in December 1995, from 8.9% in September, 8.4% in October and 8.2% in November, according to the latest Consumer Price Indices (CPI) released by the Census and Statistics Department today (Tuesday).

Moderation was also recorded in the Consumer Price Index (B) and the Hang Seng CPI. In December 1995, CPI(B) and the Hang Seng CPI rose by 7.3% and 7.9% respectively, compared with 8.3% and 8.9% in November.

The Composite CPI, which is compiled based on the combined expenditure pattern of all households, thus had a less rapid year-on-year increase of 7.2% in December, against 8.4% in November.