TNAG-0735-FCO40-939-Policy-objective-for-the-developing-of-Hong-Kong-in-the-1980-1978 — Page 223

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but the Force is now exceptionally young. Though

this represents an opportunity and a challenge, and

the quality of the new entry is high, the responsibility

falling on supervising officers has been extremely

heavy, and other things being equal I am sure that

the need now is for a period of consolidation, and

less frenetic expansion. At the moment the recurrent

cost of the Force is estimated, at 1978 prices, to rise

from $600 million in 1978/79 to about $785 million

in 1983/84.