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WAH KIU suggested that the Post Office should set up a special department where businessmen who wanted to send their goods abroad by air could pay for postal fees and obtain stamps for their cargo which could then be sent by airfreight companies.
ORIENTAL DAILY (October 15) hoped the authorities would look into the ill-effects of the Post Office Bill on the commercial sector before deciding what to do.
"The Post Office should understand that most people use other means of communications not to save money but to save time. The authorities should not pay attention only to their own interests and neglect the inconvenience some would suffer in mail delivery," the paper said.
In earlier editorial comment, both SING PAO (October 9) and the Communist NEW EVENING POST (October 8) agreed that the Post Office Bill would seriously affect the business sector if it was implemented.
SING PAO, while sharing the view of ORIENTAL DAILY which believed the business sector used private courier services to save time, asked whether the Post Office could meet the demand for an express mail service for commerce and industry if the Department was granted special rights.
"The Post Office will only harm the development of business and industry if it insists on maintaining its monopoly over mail services without meeting the demands of the business community.
"In the best interests of Hong Kong, the Government should not introduce any policies that would stifle the development of commerce and industry," SING PAO noted.
NEW EVENING POST urged the Government to exercise great care in handling the problem, claiming that the new Post Office Bill would have an adverse effect on trade between Hong Kong and other countries.
THE FIXED PENALTY SCHEME
During the week under review, four papers commented on the fixed penalty system which provides for 74 traffic offences and which will be introduced on November 1.
KUNG SHEUNG DAILY NEWS (October 19) and the left-wing HONG KONG COMMERCIAL DAILY (October 16) expressed fear that with the implementation of the Fixed Penalty System, drivers would face constant threats of being issued with penalty tickets. The COMMERCIAL DAILY said that the system would be strongly opposed by
drivers.
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"The fines provided for under the new regulations vary from $50 to $200, and if a driver is not careful he is liable to get several tickets a month and these will cost him several hundred dollars," the paper said.
it added.
"Not only the driver but his family will suffer if tickets are issued indiscriminately,"
The COMMERCIAL DAILY believed that if the authorities adopted a policy of educating the drivers and seeking their co-operation, rather than laying emphasis on punish- ment, "a better result would be achieved" in improving the traffic situation.
KUNG SHEUNG expressed doubt whether the new scheme would really help to improve traffic flow, and asked whether it would help to solve the congestion on King's
Road.
"If the regulations fail to achieve the intended aim of improving traffic conditions, in the end drivers will be contributing to the Treasury, but without improving the situation," the paper said.
The Communist HONG KONG EVENING NEWS (October 16) described the fixed penalty scheme as "a new source of taxation" for the Government, and said that there were many loopholes in it.
The paper expressed fear that some of the policemen might abuse their powers when it comes to the stage that all of them were given powers to issue tickets.
"It will be a miracle for a driver not to commit any one of the 74 moving offences,"
the EVENING NEWS said.
One thing was certain, it said. "One month after introduction of the scheme, many people will find it a shock."
WAH KIU YAT PO (October 19) urged the Government to take effective measures to prevent the abuse of power by the Police when the fixed penalty scheme comes into force
next month.
"If the 'enforcers' set about picking bones in implementing the regulations they would obliterate the true aim of improving traffic conditions," the paper added.
END
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