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PRIMARY PRODUCTION
local masters and engine operators, and the instruction of local fishermen in naviga- tion. As an adjunct to extension work through the Fish Marketing Organisation, schooling facilities are provided for the children of fishermen. Fourteen schools have so far been established and some 4,267 children were being educated at these at the end of 1972. A further 314 were attending other schools on scholarships provided by the organisation.
Loans are available to the agricultural industry through four separate loan funds; the Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Loan Fund, the J. E. Joseph Trust Fund, the World Refugee Year Loan Fund and the Vegetable Marketing Organisation Loan Fund, which are all administered through the Agriculture and Fisheries Department. At December 31, 1972, the total loans issued and recovered since the inception of these four funds were of the order of $66,036,315 and $62,100,178 respectively.
The Fisheries Development Loan Fund, administered by the Director of Agricul- ture and Fisheries, is allotted specifically for the development of the distant water fleet, for which it has a capital of $5 million. The World Refugee Year Loan Fund for Co-operative Societies, made available in 1954 by the United Nations High Com- mission for Refugees, also assists members of fishermen's co-operative societies. Further credit facilities are available to fishermen through the revolving loan fund of the Fish Marketing Organisation. This fund was established in 1946 and has made loans totalling $40 million; of this, some $35.67 million had been repaid by the end of the year. The fund's ceiling was raised to $4.5 million in 1971. The organisation also administers a revolving loan fund of $110,000 financed by the Co-operative for American Relief Everywhere, specifically for shrimp fishermen.
Co-operative societies operate under a Co-operative Societies Ordinance, which provides for the appointment of a Registrar (currently the Director of Agriculture and Fisheries) whose staff supervise and assist co-operative societies and encourage the formation of new ones. On December 31, 1972, more than 12,000 farmers and over 2,300 fishermen were members of co-operative societies formed to serve their various needs; there were 91 rural societies with two federations among the farming com- munity and 78 societies with four federations supported by the fisherfolk. A further 251 societies with some 8,370 members operate in the urban area, the bulk of these being co-operative building societies formed by local civil servants with financial aid from the government. The versatility of the movement is evidenced by the formation of primary societies with such diverse objects and activities as vegetable marketing, pig raising, agriculture and fisheries credit, better living, thrift and loan, housing and the supply of consumer goods.
In recognition of the needs of lower income groups for thrift and small loans, legislation in the form of the Credit Unions Ordinance was enacted in February, 1970 to incorporate and regulate credit unions and to provide for incidental matters. The ordinance provides for the appointment of a Registrar (currently the Director of Agriculture and Fisheries) with powers and duties in regard to the registration of credit unions and their by-laws, the examination of accounts and general supervision. Up to the end of the year, 49 credit unions with 7,637 members were registered; a total of 27 credit unions were formed of groups of persons having a common bond