TNAG-1911-FCO40-2715-Financial-assistance-from-the-UK-Government-to-Vietnamese-re-1989 — Page 154

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ROAD LINK.

5. YOU HAVE ASKED ABOUT THE COST OF ROMNEY HUTS AND PREFABRICATED UNITS. THE UNIT COST OF ROMNEY HUTS (WHICH ARE ALWAYS SINGLE STOREY) IS HKD 140,000 AND FOR SINGLE STOREY PREFABRICATED UNITS THE COST IS HKD 250,000. THE COST OF A THREE STOREY PREFABRICATED UNIT SUCH AS THOSE TO BE USED AT TAI A CHAU IS HKD 1.3 MILLION.

6. IT WOULD BE VERY DIFFICULT TO FIND ROOM FOR EXPANSION AT WHITEHEAD. ONCE STAGES 2(C) 3 AND 4 ARE COMPLETED OVER THE NEXT TWO MONTHS, THE SITE WILL HAVE BEEN FULLY DEVELOPED. EVEN IF MORE SPACE COULD BE FOUND WE WOULD HAVE TO CONSIDER VERY CAREFULLY THE SECURITY IMPLICATIONS OF GOING BEYOND A 28,000 CAPACITY AND THE LOCAL COMMUNITY REACTION TO SUCH A MOVE.

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THE PER CAPITA COSTS OF THE WHITEHEAD DEVELOPMENT ARE HKD 17.500. THIS IS BROADLY COMPARABLE TO THE PER CAPITA COSTS AT TAI A CHAU.

(B) TAI A CHAU.

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8. THE BUILDINGS PLANNED FOR TAI A CHAU ARE THREE STOREY PREFABRICAT- ED UNITS, SIMILAR TO THOSE USED AT PILLAR POINT. THESE TAKE UP LESS SPACE THAN ROMNEYS WITH CONSEQUENT SAVINGS IN LAND FORMATION COSTS AND THE POSSIBILITY OF EXPANSION LATER. 41 OF THESE WOULD BE

REQUIRED AT A TOTAL COST OF HKD 54 MILLION. THE COSTS OF THE BUILDINGS HOWEVER, IS NOT THE MAIN COST COMPONENT IN THE PROJECT. GEOTECHNICAL WORKS, SEWAGE TREATMENT AND WATER SUPPLY ARE THE MAIN PROBLEMS TO BE OVERCOME. THE ONLY ALTERNATIVES TO THE PROPOSED WATER SUPPLY AND SEWAGE TREATMENT SOLUTIONS WOULD BE LARGE SCALE STORAGE ON THE ISLAND I.E. BARGING IN WATER AND BARGING OUT THE SEWAGE. THIS WOULD PRODUCE SAVINGS ON CAPITAL EXPENDITURE BUT WOULD ADD

SIGNIFICANTLY TO RECURRENT COSTS.

(C) EMERGENCY ACCOMMODATION.

9. MOST OF THE SECURITY WORKS AT SEK KONG AND HIGH ISLAND AND THE OTHER IMPROVEMENTS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED BUT BY UPGRADING THIS COMPONENT OF THE PROGRAMME WE ARE NOW SHORT OF FUNDS TO COMPLETE THE REMAINING WORK. THE MAIN ELEMENT IN THE COST INCREASES HAS BEEN THE NEED TO INSTALL AN EFFECTIVE SEWAGE TREATMENT SYSTEM AT HIGH ISLAND

AND THE DECISION TO USE PREFABRICATED UNITS RATHER THAN TENTS. THE PRESENT POSITION IS THAT WE ARE UNABLE TO COMMISSION ANY NEW WORKS AT EXISTING CAMPS AND WORK AT THE NEW CAMPS WILL BE DELAYED IF NEW

FUNDS CANNOT BE MADE AVAILABLE SOON.

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