TNAG-1728-FCO40-2441-Minutes-and-Hansards-of-the-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1988 — Page 152

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The Financial Secretary has mentioned the making of greater use of

atutory authorities as Hong Kong is becoming increasingly a complex society to govern. This trend is demonstrated by the establishment of the Land Development Corporation and the independence of the Housing Authority. This is a welcome development since these statutory authorities will not be bound by bureaucratic limitations and will be more flexible

as they have to look and prompt in meeting the community's needs. andy after their own finances, they can much better utilise the resources available to them. Furthermore, they can generate greater involvement from the community and will reflect the actual needs of the community. 11 However, setting up statutory authority to take charge of the various

facets 12 aspects of community activities does not mean that the Government can

over these areas. Besides the ultimate

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14 responsibility to back-up these authorities with finances, the

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shrug off its responsibilities

Government also has to play an active part to

の coordinate the work of

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these authorities to ensure that there will not be conflict or over-

and 17 lapping in that the agreed projects will be effectively and efficiently 18 implemented. The role of the Government as a coordinator amongst the 19 various statutory authorities is very important because as these bodies

will be operating independently, it is feared that there may be

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If their works are

communication gaps, particularly in cases where the authorities concerned,

の such as the Land Development Corporation, Housing Authority, and Housing Societies are dealing with similar issues. not well coordinated, the aim of fully utilising public and private resources may not be achieved.

27 Cultural and Sports-Activities. I would now turn to the cultural side.

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With the establishment of the Academy for the Performing Arts and the emergence of a number of professional performing companies in the local cultural scene, it is important to ensure that there will be adequate financial support so that their standards will be upgraded continuously and talented artists will have ample scope to achieve their fullest potential. However, it is very disappointing that the subventions for

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234 performing Arts Activities remains on the low side with only an estimated

$21 million in the coming year. Although the amount is 18 per cent higher than the previous year, it is still far from adequate even to meet the

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