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The Home Affairs Department today (March 13) organised a briefing session for District Council (DC) members of the New Territories region on development of planning, transport infrastructure and services and the evaluation study conducted by the University of Hong Kong (HKU) on the effectiveness of a pilot scheme on the enhanced role of District Councils.
Director of Home Affairs, Mrs Pamela Tan, Director of Planning, Mrs Ava Ng, and Commissioner for Transport, Mr Alan Wong, also attended the briefing.
Introducing the session today, Mrs Tan, said, "We attach great importance to strengthening communication and collaboration between government departments and the DCs. On commencement of the new term DCs, senior echelons of the Government will further reach out to DCs and the community. The briefing today provides a good opportunity for the two Heads of Departments to exchange views with District Council members on planning and transport issues on a more macro level."
"Public engagement is today an integral component of planning and we shall continue engaging District Councils not only on district and local development proposals, but also planning issues of strategic significance," Mrs Ng said. "Strategic planning proposals would also have far-reaching impact at district level, which should also be a concern of District Councils."
Mr Wong said, "District Councils have been a close working partner of the Transport Department. We depend so much on the support and engagement of the District Councils and the public on the planning of new infrastructure and implementation of traffic and transport arrangements. I sincerely hope that in pursuing the objective of a transport system with even higher quality, Transport Department will continue the established partnerships with the DCs to respond to needs and challenges in the community."
Since January, 2007, heads of departments with direct interface with the public have been attending meetings of the 18 DCs to maintain a regular dialogue between senior government officials and DCs. This arrangement will continue in the new term DC.
DC members were also briefed on the key findings and observations of a study conducted by the HKU to evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot scheme and to test the new guidelines and measures to enhance the functions of DCs. The HKU study also highlighted the experience of the four pilot districts (Wan Chai, Wong Tai Sin, Sai Kung and Tuen Mun) and the critical success factors of their pilot projects.
"The encouraging experience of the pilot scheme is a positive indicator of the Government's initiatives in strengthening district work and enhancing the functions of DCs. We will continue to work closely with DC members to improve various arrangements. The Summit on District Administration to be chaired by the Chief Executive in May will be another valuable occasion for senior government officials to exchange views with DCs on district issues closely related to people's livelihood," Mrs Tan said.
"We had a fruitful discussion with DC members on various issues and will continue to maintain a close dialogue with the 18 DCs on the future planning of district administration,กจ she said.
A briefing session for DC members of the Hong Kong Island and Kowloon regions will be held next Monday (March 17).
Ends/Thursday, March 13, 2008
Issued at HKT 19:11
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