TNAG-0563-FCO40-658-Construction-of-an-underground-railway-system-in-Hong-Kong-1975 — Page 256

( 3

PRIORITY

GR 300

EN CLAIR

FM HONG KONG 141140Z

UNCLASSIFIED

RECEIVED IN REGISTRY No.52

15 JAN1975

NKK 21

175

TO PRIORITY DOT TELNO CREDA 6 OF 14 JANUARY INFO PRIORITY TOKYO, ECDG (COTTERILL) FCO (HKIOD).

CRE4 (MISS WELCH).

LAST

RCF

@

FOR FARRY OFPD.

NEXT

REF.

MY TEL CREDA 4: MASS TRANSIT.

I LISTENED TO THAT PART OF PRESS CONFERENCE GIVEN BY THE

FINANCIAL SECRETARY THIS AFTERNOON WHICH WAS BROADCAST. HE DISCLOSED

THAT THE JAPANESE CONSORTIUM HAD WITHDRAWN FROM THE PROJECT IN DECEMBER. HE ACCUSED THEM OF A SERIOUS ERROR OF JUDGEMENT AT THE BEST, SUGGESTED THAT THEY COULD HAVE WITHDRAWN EARLIER AND DISCLOSED THAT THE DESIGN SOLUTION PROMISED BY THE END OF SEPTEMBER, WHEN RECEIVED IN MID-NOVEMBER, INCOMPLETE, INADEQUATE AND IN SOME RESPECTS UNSUITED AND IRRELEVANT TO CONDITIONS IN HONG KONG.

2. HE ANNOUNCED THAT HE WAS AUTHORISED BY THE GOVERNOR IN COUNCIL TO SAY THAT REGARDLESS OF THE UNILATERAL WITHDRAWAL BY THE JAPANESE CONSORTIUM, THE GOVERNMENT WAS DETERMINED TO TRY ITS BEST TO GET THE SYSTEM BUILT. WITHOUT A MASS TRANSIT SYSTEM, CONGESTION WOULD BECOME

INTOLERABLE BY THE 1980'S.

INTENSIVE WORK HAD BEEN UNDERTAKEN OVER THE PAST EIGHT WEEKS THEREFORE TO PRODUCE A MODIFIED INITIAL SYSTEM AND THE PROPOSALS HAD BEEN APPROVED IN PRINCIPLE BY THE GOVERNOR IN COUNCIL. /3. IT