TNAG-0856-FCO40-1066-Construction-of-underground-railway-system-in-Hong-Kong-1979 — Page 80

葉錫恩

(MRS.) E. ELLIOTT.

TEL. 3-422414

OUR

REF:

YOUR

REF:

Lord Carrington,

The Secretary for Foreign &

Commonwealth Affairs,

Whitehall,

London, S.W.1.

Dear Sir,

يهم

24/10

By again 24/10. hoved'

FOREIGN AND COMMONT

**

3 OCT 1979 НК

ALLOCATIONS

IIKK

113.

55. Kung Lok Road, Kwun Tong.

KOWLOON.

25th September, 79.

173

RECEIVED IN REGISTRY NO. 51

4 OCT 1979

DESK OFPYA

INDEX

REGISTRY

Sex 114

18

REGÓ

W. M

We refer to a reply given by Mr. Peter Blaker in answer to a question

by Mr. Robert Parry in the House of Commons, on 26th July 1979.

93

-

In his reply Mr. Blaker said that between $400 and $450 per square foot

was offered to flatowners of Sai Lau Kok, and $850 $1100 per square foot for

commercial premises. The reply also stated that similar flats were being sold

in the area at similar rates, and shops at the lower price of $800 a square foot.

The owners wish to inform you that if these compensation rates had been

offered at that time, they would certainly have been accepted. Even now, the owners

would accept such an offer, though they would suffer some loss, because the present

cost per square foot is even higher than the prices quoted by Mr. Blaker, but

at any rate the latter would be an improvement on the offers they have had from

the Government. The fact is that flatowners are being offered only $310 - $320

per square foot, and shopowners only $500

$600.

The case generally quoted by the Hong Kong Government is that of a flat-

owner who received $129,500 for a flat of 296 square feet, which indeed appears

to work out at $437.50 per square foot.

On the other hand, another flatowner (not quoted by the authorities )

with an area of 535 square feet was offered $168,000, that is, $314 per square foot.

One can only guess why there is such a wide discrepancy in the two cases

quoted.

It is /.....