ENG-1995 — Page 251

LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES

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region's needs for medical service will be met. The Waterfront Park near Fu Shin Estate will also be ready for use in September 1996.

Fanling and Sheung Shui

Fanling and Sheung Shui, just a few kilometres from China, have grown from a group of villages in 1973 to a 515-hectare town of 170 000 people. Their combined population is expected to increase to 200 000 by the turn of the century.

Flood control measures were carried out within a section of the River Indus Minor downstream of the railway bridge. Further flood control measures are planned in the upstream and downstream sections of the River Indus, as well as along sections of the Beas and Sutlej rivers. The school building programme continues, as does construction of the North District Hospital.

Tuen Mun

Tuen Mun, in the West New Territories, 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. About 1 200 hectares of land have been provided by the government and the private sector for development.

About 73 per cent of the town's 430 000 people live in public housing developments, which comprise 11 public rental estates and 16 home ownership and private sector - participation schemes. Within the next five years, five more home ownership and private sector participation schemes and one public rental estate will be developed to accommodate an additional 63 000 people. Together with some low-density private housing developments along the southeastern coast, the new town will provide homes for about 460 000 people by 2001.

Light manufacturing industries, including plastics, garments, metal, electronics and textiles, dominate in Tuen Mun. The existing industrial areas provide floor space for about 2 200 companies and jobs for about 40 000 people. Over 80 per cent of the workers employed in the factories live in the Tuen Mun and Yuen Long areas.

The backbone of the transport service serving the town, and linking it with Yuen Long, is the Light Rail Transit (LRT) system. A large-scale recreation project has been completed north of Butterfly Beach, providing a horse-riding school, a golf- driving range and other recreation facilities such as a children's play area.

A 125-hectare site in western Tuen Mun has been earmarked for special industries and a terminal for river trade with China is to be developed by the private sector. Reclamation work for the special industry area began in mid-1995. A new thermal power station, with a 5 000MW capacity, is being built at Black Point.

Yuen Long, Tin Shui Wai and the North-West New Territories

Yuen Long town was first developed in the early 1970s. Its population, which stood at 120 000 at the end of the year, is expected to grow to 150 000 early in the next decade.

Development is spreading to the Tuen Mun-Yuen Long Corridor. The rural area is being rejuvenated, with new infrastructure providing for improved rural development.