resulted in considerable operational difficulties. Additional temporary staff were employed to assist in handling the greatly increased business and at the peak of the pressure it was necessary to employ five additional large vehicles for the clearance of the mails from Branch Offices in Kowloon. It was also necessary to utilize emergency accom- modation in Whitfield Barracks for storage of bags awaiting despatch to China. With the co-operation of the postal and railway authorities in China, and with the help of the Kowloon-Canton Railway, wagon carrying capacity was eventually doubled. The accu- mulation of mail, which had built up by Christmas 1972, was cleared during January. The level of postings subsequently eased somewhat but still continued at a much higher level than was normal prior to October 1972.
Christmas Mails
56. Heavy postings of parcels, packets and cards to countries abroad were again recorded. During the months of October and November 1972, there was an increase of 5.6% in bags of letter mail and an increase of 4.6% in bags of parcel mail despatched by com- parison with the same period in 1971. The weight of airmail despatched in December showed a remarkable increase of 17.9% in December 1972 as compared to 1971. More items were received from abroad by air and surface means for handling during the Christmas period.
Development
57. A complex of temporary accommodation on the Central Re- clamation was completed during the year to house the Inward and Outward Parcel Sections, together with storage facilities for mail awaiting despatch. To overcome problems in moving mail across the newly widened and extremely busy Connaught Road Central, a new chain conveyor was installed linking the General Post Office and the Parcel Complex on the Central Reclamation. This has considerably improved the flow of mail into and out of the G.P.O. Building.
58. The temporary accommodation occupying the site near Blake Pier, reserved for the new General Post Office, was vacated early in February 1973, in readiness for preliminary piling work to begin on the new G.P.O. and to enable piling work to proceed on a pedestrian promenade which will link with an elevated walkway
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