Ranks close to look after No 1

IT'S his car. It's his decision,'' said the head of the Superintendents' Association Chris Glover, in the least enthusiastic endorsement this week of Commissioner Li Kwan-ha's persistent refusal to surrender his No 1 car licence plate.

Mr Glover reflects the prevalent view among the Royal Hongkong Police Force. But he misses the point, as did the spokesmen for the Local Inspectors' Association and Expatriate Inspectors' Association, who have mounted a vehement defence of the value of the said item to the force, its morale, and its traditions.

Unfortunately, Mr Glover also is wrong. It is not Mr Li's car. The shiny black Toyota and the number plate, come with the job, Mr Li correctly stated this week, and is the property of the Hongkong Government. So too, is the number plate. And, therefore its fate - that is, if it will remain attached firmly to the front and rear bumpers of Mr Li's ''office'' car or be removed to another vehicle, at a benefit to consolidated revenues - is decided elsewhere.

In this case, the decision rests with the Deputy Secretary for The Treasury, Mr Stephen Selby, whose responsibilities are the administration of expenditure for capital works and taxes, duties, rates and windfall revenue such as the sale of Government-owned car number plates.

Mr Selby's boss, Treasury Secretary Mr Yeung Kai-yin, told the Legislative Council Public Accounts Committee (PAC) last Monday that the administration would have the final say on the fate of the No 1 plate. A decision would be made soon, he said, and serious consideration would be given to Mr Li's views.

Earlier, in the same meeting, the commissioner had provoked outright guffaws from PAC members when he said that forsaking his plate would be detrimental to the ''history, tradition and pride of the force''.

Local Inspectors' Association chairman Robert Chau Chuen-kung and the Expatriate Inspectors' Association chairman Mr David Scott, agreed with their boss. ''I think the material gain from auctioning the licence plate is nothing compared to its symbolic significance to the force,'' said Mr Chau.