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2. Under this scheme I see the Government stands to realize a clear profit of over one and a half million dollars from premiums to be derived by the sale of the areas tinted yellow to be reclaimed in front of :-
(i.) The Cricket Ground.
(i.) The City Hall. (iii.) The Central Market.
(iv.) The area opposite Lot 63.
(v.) The Harbour Master's Office.
All these are the property of the Crown, and this is the reason why the reclama- tion of the sea along their fronts would devolve on the Government, and why the land thus artificially made would become the exclusive property of the Crown.
3. Besides the one and a half million dollars from premiums, the public Rent- Roll will further benefit to the extent of $25,000 a year from the Crown Rents to be collected on the 32 acres of new building-sites.
4. The reclaimed land will be so valuable that it will not remain long vacant. Covered with buildings it will bring in to Government an additional $60,000 in Municipal Rates making the total annual revenue to Government from the reclama- tion $85,000.
5. Briefly summed up, the financial advantages to Government from the re- clamations will be: land to the value of $1,575,000, and a revenue of $85,000 a year in Crown Rents and Rates derivable from private reclamations. There will be some additional advantages in the formation of further sites outside the town. These are dealt with in paragraph 22.
6. The population generally will benefit by the very large areas of new building-land which it is proposed to throw open for the erection of houses in the very centres where overcrowding prevails. This to my mind is even a more im- portant recommendation than the financial advantages set forth in the preceding paragraph, for nothing can take precedence of the claims of the Public Health.
7. The relief to the present congestion would be very great. The proposed reclamations comprise 59 acres. Of this area. I would recommend that 27 acres be reserved for new roads and streets leaving 32 acres of building land. 32 acres will accommodate 1,320 tenements with house-room for 39,000 people or will pro- vide roughly speaking for 5 years' influx of people.
8. A new sea-wall along deep water will furthermore remedy the present offensive condition of the foreshore. The present Praya foreshore is in a worse condition than the Thames before the embankment between Westminster and the City was built.
9. With increased population there will of course be increased traffic. The present Praya roadway is already too narrow; the pedestrian is scarcely able to proceed along this thoroughfare without being impeded and jostled by the crowd at every step, but this scheme will enable the width of the leading thoroughfares to be increased and adapted to future demands.
10. To a great shipping emporium like Hongkong a continuous granite quay running continuously for two miles in 20 feet of water will prove the greatest of boons, because it will facilitate the landing and embarking of cargo at all times of tide and at all points along the line. At present the transfer of cargo to and from the lighters is much hindered during the hours of low tide by the shallowness of the water.
11. The Marine frontagers would benefit by the mere fact that they would acquire extensions to their present lots at something between $2 and $3 a square foot, i.e., the cost of their reclamation, and because they would be able to command for these same extensions prices varying from $4 to $10 a square foot.
12. As far as any one can hazard an opinion without a previous detailed estimate of the cost of the foundations (which would depend on the nature of the sea-bed) I should say this reclamation would be feasible at an outlay of about $2 to $3 per square foot of land left available for building after deducting the areas necessary for new streets.