HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT, 1953
respectively, while the Director of Public Works, in addition to his duties in connexion with the construction and maintenance of government buildings, the supervision of other buildings, waterworks, piers and government transport, is responsible for the construction and maintenance of the Colony's roads.
The Postmaster General is responsible for the collection and delivery of mail. The Royal Observatory, under a Director, provides meteorological services for use by aircraft and ship- ping, issues regular weather forecasts and is responsible for giving typhoon warnings.
Law and Order. The Attorney General is the adviser to Government on all legal matters and is also the public pro- secutor. The Registrar General is the officer responsible for the registration of companies, trade marks, marriages and land deals and is also the Official Receiver and Official Trustee. Watch and ward in the Colony is kept by the Commissioner of Police, while the Colony's prisons are the responsibility of the Commissioner of Prisons. The Chief Officer of the Fire Brigade has an efficient and up-to-date force under his command.
New Territories. The administration of the New Territories is in the charge of a District Commissioner, assisted by a District Officer for each of the three districts: Yuen Long in the west, Taipo in the north and east, and the Southern District. In addi- tion to general administrative duties, District Officers sit as Police Court Magistrates, and can also hold Small Debt Courts and Land Courts under the New Territories Ordinance. They carry out the functions of the Public Works Department in controlling Crown Land and building development, and of the Registrar General in regard to records and deeds concerning private land.
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