TNAG-0453-FCO40-518-Budget-of-Hong-Kong-1974-1975-1975 — Page 154

21

to reduce it to $175 which is equal to half the fee for a small car.

This is very reasonable, particularly

free of charge.

as motor cyclists have the advantage of being able to park

The lower fee of $175 will mean that

the additional revenue from this class of vehicle will be about $500,000 less than under my original proposal.

55.

Secondly, as regards

goods vehicles, I think we must simplify the present system. It involves applying the fee to as many as 47 platforms by unladen weight. The reduction to three platforms in my original proposal would reduce administrative overheads and, in any case, the increases I proposed were relatively modest and they should stand.

56.

Thirdly, there has been some reaction from the owners of public light buses, even though the proportionate increase I proposed for them was less than for most other vehicles. But so that there can be no doubt that my motives were simply to raise additional revenue I propose to reduce the increase for public light buses from $3,000 to $2,000. This will mean foregoing $4 million in revenue.

57.

(111) Drivers licences

My honourable Friends, Mr. Hilton Cheong-Leen and Mr. James Wu have represented that paid drivers will be hard hit by my proposal to charge $50 for each endorsement on a driving licence. Perhaps, but one reason why I went along with the Commissioner for Transport's proposal was that there is, at the present time, a very long waiting list of applicants wanting endorsements related to means of earning a living. For example, the waiting time for a licence to drive a goods vehicle is over a year in Hong Kong and over three years in Kowloon. I hoped that by charging a fee for

each endorsement, frivolous applicants would be deterred

thus reducing the waiting time for those with more serious

motives.

58.

But I have no wish to hurt unduly paid drivers and I would be prepared to adjust my proposals to $50 for the original licence and $10 for each subsequent endorsement up to five with free endorsements thereafter. In other words,

/the.....