ENG-1982 — Page 153

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HOUSING AND LAND

New Towns and Rural Townships The New Territories Development Department is engaged in a massive programme of building new towns to meet the needs of the territory's growing population. The scarcity of land in the urban areas has necessitated that this increasing population is housed in the New Territories on land formed from the rugged terrain and by reclaiming land from the sea. Housing, employment and transport facilities, together with medical, educational and recreational amenities are being built to provide reasonably-balanced communities.

During the year, Tsuen Wan was linked to the urban areas by the Mass Transit Railway system and the Mass Transit Railway works in Tsuen Wan have now been completed. Some 4 100 flats were completed at Shek Wai Kok Estate in Tsuen Wan and at Cheung Hong Estate on Tsing Yi Island, while a further 4 400 flats will also be built at Cheung Hong.

As part of the continuing programme to provide community facilities to serve Tsuen Wan's growing population, a secondary and two primary schools, a community hall, a community centre, a government branch office, a transport interchange and a bus terminus were built. Other facilities under construction include a further eight secondary schools, two primary schools, two markets and a library, three multi-storey car-parks, a games hall, a swimming pool and a number of open spaces for local and district use, including Gin Drinker's Bay Park. Some 110 hectares of land were formed during the year with the first phase of the Tsuen Wan Bay reclamation now nearing completion. Other major engineering works started this year include construction of the Tsuen Wan transport complex, construction of a salt water pumping station, reclamation in north Tsing Yi for a public housing estate, and the widening of Tsing Yi Road and Heung Sze Wui Road.

In Tuen Mun the development of the On Ting and Yau Oi public housing estates was finished with the completion of some 7 200 flats, to bring the total number of flats in the estate to 14 200. Just to the west, the sister estates of Wu King and Butterfly are rapidly developing with 2 200 flats completed and another 9 500 under construction. In the northern sector of the new town, 2 100 of the 4 700 flats at Siu Hong Court the biggest Home Ownership project so far - were completed with the remaining flats due for completion over the next two years. Construction of 2 600 flats at Shan King Estate has also begun and piling work has started for another estate. With the latest completions, Tuen Mun's population has reached 182 000, of whom some 140 000 or 77 per cent are in public housing. The town will eventually accommodate some 550 000. Light industry factories have been built to provide employment opportunities for this growing population and appropriate community facilities have been or are being built. These include primary and secondary schools, a technical institute, a divisional police station, community halls, a sports ground, open spaces and markets. Negotiations between the government and a private developer to operate a light rail public transport system within the town and its links with Yuen Long are in progress. To the west of the town, part of a major new power station was commissioned and the construction of a cement factory was completed. The largest new town development taking place is at Sha Tin where the population has grown from 30 000 to 200 000 over the last 10 years. During the next decade the population growth will be even more dramatic and by the mid-1990s, which will see the virtual completion of the town, it is expected that the population will be approaching 850 000. Formation in Sha Tin valley is now close to completion and already 640 hectares of land have been reclaimed from the sea. Engineering works for land formation have commenced at Ma On Shan where, upon completion, a further 420 hectares of land, including 160 hectares of direct reclamation, will have been produced. Other engineering