ENG-1990 — Page 270

LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES

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and the divisional police stations at Hung Hom and Tai Hing. Two sub-divisional fire stations and one ambulance depot were commissioned at various locations in the New Territories. Other works for the Correctional Services, Fire Services and the Police Force are progressing well.

On the social welfare side, a skills centre for the disabled in Tuen Mun with 300 places for handicapped students, was completed in the middle of the year. A combined hostel and sheltered workshop in Razor Hill with 100 places, and a girls' house in Tuen Mun with 120 places, are both under construction, and will be completed in 1991. The piling work of a neighbourhood community centre in Sha Tin has commenced, and the whole project will be completed in 1992.

Government's continued commitment on the education matters is reflected by the com- pletion of two primary schools and seven secondary schools located in Sha Tin, Ma On Shan, Tuen Mun, and Tseung Kwan O. Another two primary schools and 11 secondary schools are under construction, and will be completed in 1991. Twenty-three aided and three government schools affected by traffic noise received noise abatement treatment this year. This programme will continue in 1991.

In parallel with planning of the new airport, improvement to the Hong Kong Inter- national Airport is still continuing. Completion of the new extension to the passenger terminal in 1988, enabled the refurbishment of the whole terminal building to commence in April this year. This includes the upgrading of facilities, such as fire services and air conditioning installations, and the addition of new escalators. The first phase has been completed and the whole of the work will be completed in mid-1992. Three additional floors of office space as well as the new 'Commercially Important Persons Accom- modation' are being added to the existing terminal building. To meet the demand for carparking space, the extension of the multi-storey carpark is under construction. The construction of the new aircraft recovery and salvage equipment depot commenced this year and will be completed in May 1991. In order to facilitate the expansion of the south apron of the airport, the existing Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force building will be relocated. The construction for the new building will be completed early in 1992.

The services provided by the property services wing of the Architectural Services Department continue to grow. In view of the expanded range of services, the Maintenance Branch is now redesignated the Property Services Branch (APB). Another major event has been the development of an extensive computer system which is to be commissioned in 1992. This is part of the development of the Departmental Information Technology system. On the project side, apart from the normal works of maintenance, alteration, cleaning and security, nine centres were constructed and fitted-out in the year to house Vietnamese boat people. The branch has also completed 197 fitting-out projects for 41 500 square metres of floor area and has refurbished 85 older buildings. The former fire station at Belcher Street was converted into an elderly people's home. In the quality control of roofing works infra red scanning has been adopted to pinpoint failure in membranes which would not be visible to the naked eye. This provision has raised contractors' performance levels and saved time in locating roof leakages.

The Antiquities Unit of Architectural Services Department Property Services Branch was very active and carried out work worth approximately $16 million to a total of 28 different historic buildings and monuments throughout the territory. This ranged from rebuilding a section of wall of the Ching dynasty at the Tung Chung Fort to repairing

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