【明報專訊】TO tackle the acute shortage of land supply in Hong Kong, it is necessary to take a multi-pronged approach to finding land and putting up housing. The procedures for land development have to be simplified. Established procedure adopted by the government is such that, to turn a "potential site" into a "disposed site", it is necessary to do planning, conduct studies and carry out those legal procedures that altogether take around 10 years. Building housing on land reclaimed from the sea is an even lengthier process, as there is an almost 20-year time frame between a feasibility study is conducted and apartments are finally released onto the market. It is necessary for the government to conduct a radical reform of land development procedures. Any amendment made in a piecemeal manner that can only shorten the procedure by just a few months will be utterly inadequate and will do little to improve the situation.