ENG-1990 — Page 257

LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES

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completed, providing homes for 11 000 people, while Phase III, scheduled for completion early in 1994, will accommodate a further 5 000 people. In Kwai Tsing, site formation works are underway on two public housing estates which are designed to accommodate around 30 000 people.

The Kwai Chung Container Terminal is within the new town boundary. This year saw the opening of the first berth of Terminal 7 while the feasibility study for Terminal 8 at Stonecutters Island was completed. Works there are planned to start in mid-1991. A site at south-east Tsing Yi is being studied for Terminal 9.

Some significant highway projects have been completed. These include the new Route 5 highway from Sha Tin and north-south flyover at the Kwai Chung Road/Castle Peak Road junction. Major road improvement works to Kwai Chung Road, Texaco and Kwan Mun Hau Street progressed satisfactorily.

Major community facilities completed during the year include a district open space along the Tsuen Wan waterfront and the Tak Wah Street Park with water features, providing further leisure areas to the public in Tsuen Wan town centre. The coming opening of Tso Kung Tam outdoor recreation centre will provide dormitories for overnight campers in addition to recreational facilities.

Sha Tin

The development of Sha Tin has reached a relatively advanced stage with much of the remaining works being concentrated in Ma On Shan. Works carried out during 1990 were aimed at complementing and enhancing the infrastructure and providing community facilities to cater for a population which will increase to around 700 000 at full devel- opment at the end of the 1990s.

With the opening of Route 5 in April 1990, travelling time between Sha Tin and Tsuen Wan has been reduced to about 10 minutes while traffic congestion on Lion Rock Tunnel Road and Tai Po Road has been considerably relieved. Works are progressing well on the Sha Tin approaches to Tate's Cairn Tunnel which will provide a road link to East Kowloon by mid-1991.

In Ma On Shan all major reclamation works have been completed and construction of the future town centre is in hand. Modification of the Sha Tin Sewage Treatment Works, aimed at improving water quality in Tolo Harbour, is expected to be completed in mid-1991.

Tuen Mun

Tuen Mun is developed mainly on land reclaimed from Castle Peak Bay and on platforms formed in the valley between Castle Peak and the Tai Lam Hills. In 1990, about 18 hectares of land were reclaimed for residential and industrial development, including a public cargo-handling area.

The present population of Tuen Mun is about 364 000 of which about 271 000 live in public rental housing estates and home ownership and private sector participation schemes. By the mid-1990s, an additional 60 000 people will be accommodated in home ownership and private sector participation schemes. Together with some high-density pri- vate housing developments in the town centre and suburban type developments along the south-east coast they will provide homes for a population which will exceed 500 000 by the mid-1990s.