TNAG-2050-FCO40-2920-Visits-by-Lord-Caithness--Minister-of-State-for-Foreign-and--1990 — Page 108

Translation

Translation of Press Cutting

from Oriental Daily News dated 11.9.90

17.9.90

The civil servants will express their anxiety concerning the transitional period to Lord Caithness when he makes his official visit to Hong Kong while the disciplinary forces would also like to express their concern towards their employment conditions to the minister

Serval civil service groups will meet the Minister with special responsibility for H.K., Lord Caithness next Thursday when he makes his visit to H.K. to discuss with them the problems faced by civil servants. Representatives of the four local police staff associations will meet Lord Caithness next Thursday morning. LIA Chairman Li Shu-fung said that they will discuss more current problems, such as, Sir David Ford's denial of the prevalence low morale among the Force, with Lord Caithness for the meeting will only last 15 minutes. In addition, when they made their visit to Britain in the earlier time, they had already submitted a one-hundred-odd page petition to Lord Caithness, mentioning in detail the problems faced by the Force in aspects like recruitment, brain drain and low morale.

Mr LI stressed that they were in possession of a government confidential document on police morale and if the problem was not probably considered, they would not rule out the possibility of filing a writ with the HightCourt demanding the Commissioner of Police to testify in Court and make public the confidential document.

When talking about the request made by Executive and Legislative Councillor Mrs Rita Fan HSU Lai-tai, urging the police not to reveal their discontent to the public, Mr LI commented that the government should be brave enough to face the public and should not have all the policies drafted secretly. In fact, what the association has done is only reflectin: the fact to the public. He added that the wastage rate of the Force is really very high. For instance, 184 officers left the Force last month and 20 of them chose to become postmen. He said these force members were not 'cowards' but they thought that since the salaries and of postmen and police officers did not differ much, they saw no reasons why they should bear the danger that a police officer should face.

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