HONG
KONG BUILDING INDUSTRY
DIARY
SUMMARY OF IMPORTANT AND INTERESTING EVENTS DURING MARCH & APRIL 1950
18th March
The British Government has made token provision for a £3,000,000 loan to the Hongkong Government to meet expendi- ture on the construction of an airport, the Civil Estimates for 1950-51, which were published to-day, disclosed. The loan will be free of interest and the terms of repayment will be settled later.
The Supreme Court recorded a settlement of an action for possession and damages brought by a man who was evicted from his Happy Valley home with his family by his landlords. The defendants have agreed to pay the man $6,000 as compensation, plus $2,000 as costs, both within two weeks. The Board of Directors of Humphreys Estate and Finance Company Limited, at the annual general meeting of the Com- pany to-day, survived a no confidence motion proposed by Mr. N, V. A. Croucher, one of the shareholders. In the Chairman's report it was disclosed that profit for the period amounts to $300,983, which includes $45,050, representing interest received during the year on mortgages, also similar returns in respect of the war period. This compares favourably with the pre- vious year's profit of $225,044. Salaries and wages are shown as $45,147.54, which includes $21,147.54 being wages in respect of overseer, caretakers, and casual labour necessary for pro- perties' maintenance. Administration cosis, namely the Secretary's salary also General Managers' allowance and remuneration which together amount to $41,000 total $65,000. These represent just under 14 per cent of revenue for the year as shown, and, in his estimation, bear favourable com- parison with overhead charges of this kind for similar local undertakings.
21st March
Mr. J. C. McDouall, Acting Secretary for Chinese Affairs, laid the foundation stone of New Homuntin Village in Yaumati to house the victims of the recent Kowloon City fire. Building went on uninterrupted as he did so, and in seven weeks' time they will move into their new homes. Plans are to build 155 units in blocks at New Homuntin, and selected people would be allowed to build 88 similar units at their own expense. More than 1,200 had applied for permission to build, said the Chairman, Mr. Daniel N. F. Chen. Each unit would house one or two families, depending on numbers. Mr. Chen said 3,500 huts were wiped out in the Kowloon fire and 17,000 people were affected.
Yesterday the first sod was cut on the site of the new Wah Yan College, Kowloon, by Mr. F. S. Ko, President of the Wah Yan College Past Students' Association. The site is on Waterloo Road, on the strip of ground between the road and the new Government flats in King's Park. The site formation is estimated to take five months. It will entail the cutting of a hill to the height of forty feet above the level of the adjoining road and the filling and levelling of the flat ground beside the railway in the Fo Pang valley, for use as sports fields.
22nd March
Spacious offices, built-in cupboards, drying rooms and tiled bathrooms with hot and cold running water are but a few of the features of the new Shaukiwan Police Station which is situated opposite the Taikoo Dockyard Recreation ground at Shaukiwan.
The Government Vernacular Primary School in Wanchai, situated next to the Sikh Temple at the foot of Gap Road, which was destroyed during the war when it received direct hits from a stick of bombs during an Allied air raid, is now being rebuilt.
24th March
Cable and Wireless Limited is gradually moving into its new building, Electra House, facing the harbour along Connaught Road, Central. Its administration offices now occupy the front of the fifth floor. The manager of the Great Northern Telegraph Company has his office on the floor below.
Landlords believe that the biggest single factor in the question of maintaining rents at reasonable level was the rapacity of principal tenants who generally do not adhere to the 20 per cent commission for them. This is mentioned in the 1949 annual report of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber has written to Government on the subject.
A profit of $2,767,954 for the year 1949 is reported by the Directors of the Hongkong & Kowloon Wharf and Godown Co., Ltd. The Directors' report, to be presented at the annual meeting of the Company on March 31, states: The number of ships handled during 1949 was 879 as compared with 754 in 1948: storage accommodation has been taxed to the utmost. "I think it would not be consistent with the Ordinance to import into the statutory tenancy covenants affecting buildings which the Ordinance itself does not protect, and which under the contract should not be there," declared the Senior Puisne Judge, Mr. Justice Gould, in the Supreme Court to-day when he delivered written judgment dismissing the appeal brought by Far East Aviation Company, Ltd., and Far East Motors, Ltd., against an eviction order made by Mr. W. H. Latimer, the Tenancy Tribunal President.
The urgent need for many more primary, vocational and technical schools and greater facilities for the training of teachers was stressed by Mr. Lim Hoylan, President of the Hongkong Teachers' Association at an extraordinary general meeting held at La Salle College when Mr. Lim presented his report.
27th March
"I think that most of us here realise that there is little to be gained by taking the long view where trade with China is concerned and that the best course is to seize opportunities as they present themselves," remarked the Hon. P. S. Cassidy (Chairman), when he presided at the annual general meeting of the Hongkong General Chamber of Commerce at the Roof Garden of the Hongkong Hotel to-day. In a comprehensive review of trade during the past year, the Chairman said that during the four years since trade was resumed after the reoccupation, the economy of Hongkong had been re-established on what he believed was a firm foundation.
30th March
Mr. W. Aneurin Jones, Registrar General, to-day issued a reminder to all persons entitled to compensation in respect of land which has reverted to the Crown by virtue of the Airfield (Kai Tak) Extension and Reversion Ördinance, 1948, and who have not yet claimed such compensation that section 15 of the Ordinance provides that "No claim for compensation under section 6 of this Ordinance nor applica- tion or recommendation to the Governor-in-Council under section 7 of this Ordinance shall be entertained unless it has been presented within two years of the coming into effect of this Ordinance."
31st March
An expansion plan, which includes the rebuilding of the whole of the Company's premises at Russell Street, making provision for housing a fleet of 150 tramcars there in addition to the necessary offices and workshops, was announced by Mr. R. Gordon, Chairman, at the annual meeting of Hongkong Tramways, Limited, held at the Board Room of Messrs. Jardine, Matheson, The Company, he said, had embarked upon a programme of tramcar body replacement which aims at bringing 100 new bodies into service during the next five years.
3rd April
Net profit of $465,519.33 on the year's working-an increase of $5,352.49 over 1948 was reported by Mr. Leung Kwai-tin, Chairman, at the annual meeting of the Chinese Estates Limited held at China Building. The increase in profit was attributable to the increase in rent receipts of $84,725.45, he said.
4th April
The International Hotel, a six-storey building newly constructed on Cameron Road, near Chatham Road, was formally opened to-day to the public under the advisorship of Mr. Myron Ling, manager of Park Hotel, Shanghai, and President of the Shanghai Hotel Association. Consisting of 65 rooms and suites mostly connected, the hotel enjoys an excellent view in the best district on the mainland, as it is within easy reach of the business sections. Features of the hotel are its Clipper Bar adjacent to the beautiful hotel lobby with enough space for gift shops, and an attractive roof garden for big parties and meetings.
5th April
The urgent need for more open space for playing fields, playgrounds and rest parks in Kowloon and some reservation in the foothills for further school and hospital sites are matters stressed by the General Committee of Kowloon Residents' Association in its report to be presented at an annual meeting of the Association at St. Andrew's Church Hall. Other matters in which the Association concerned itself during last year were Constitutional reform, squatters' sites, street lighting, traffic, bathing sheds, roads, Kowloon mortuary and town planning.
"Time and again when policy in regard to essential public service has been approved by Government and money to carry out policy has been voted, the vote has lapsed at the end of the financial year because the necessary work has not commenced, either because more urgent work has delayed the preparation of plans by the Public Works Department, or for some similar reason." These remarks were made by the Hon. C. E. Terry (President of the Kowloon Residents' Association) when he addressed the annual meeting.
8th April
Failure to arrive at an agreement with Government over the type of houses to be erected was the reason for the delay in going ahead with the scheme for building quarters for workmen, This statement was made by Mr. U Tat-chee at the 8th annual general meeting of the Hong Kong Chinese Manufacturers Union, held at the Cafe de Chine. The scheme, when first put to Government, was favourably received, said Mr. U, but in order to economise in land Government insisted on four-storey reinforced concrete houses being built, the cost of which the Union found to be uneconomical and too expensive for the type of workmen for whom the houses are intended to accommodate.
10th April
A circular letter to all shareholders calling attention to a restatement of land values of property belonging to the China Provident Loan and Mortgage Co., Ltd., reveals that
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