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Hong Kong experienced an increase in the number of industrial accidents in the construction industry in 1980.
No statistics are available on the number of immigrants involved in these accidents, but it is reasonably clear that many of the victims were inexperienced and untrained workers, some of whom were undoubtedly new arrivals.
Transport
An important factor in the quality of life in the mind of the Hong Kong public is the convenience with which they can travel, especially to and from work. During the 1970s, against a background of relatively steady population growth, the capacity of the territory's transport systems increased substantially and the public began to enjoy greater mobility.
But in 1979 the trend to steadily improve transport conditions was reversed when a period of economic prosperity coincided with a population increase of 6.3 percent, including some 178,000 immigrants from China. The estimated number of public transport journeys generated by the recent immigration is as follows:
1978:
1979:
1982:
Million journeys:
13
69
106
Franchised Buses:
Other Transport:
3
10
52
81
17
WVOR
25
T.
The deterioration in travelling conditions has been marked by extended waiting times and worse overcrowding on buses and ferries. The introduction of the Mass Transit Railway provided a welcome expansion in overall public transport passenger carrying capacity, but its effect at present is restricted to
cross-harbour traffic and east Kowloon areas.
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