HONGKONG.
REPORT ON THE NEW TERRITORY, FOR THE YEAR 1902.
Laid before the Legislative Council by Command of His Excellency the Governor.
COLONIAL SECRETARY'S OFFICE,
HONGKONG, 19th March, 1903.
No. 2
SIR, I have the honour to submit the following Report on the New Territo- ries, for the year 1902.
LAND.
During 1902 the demarcation of the whole of the New Territory with the exception of (1) the coastwise strips from Tai Lam Chung to Tsun Wan, and (2) Lamma Island, was completed. Branch Offices for taking claims were opened at Ping Shan (April 1st to October 18th), and at Sai Kung (July 7th to October 25th), on the mainland: and at Mui Wo, Pui O, Tung Chung and Tai O in Lan Tao Island. All claims on the mainland have been filed except for the narrow strip from Tai Lam Chung to Tsun Wan. These are now being received at a branch office at Tsun Wan which it is hoped will be closed in May. This will finish claim-taking on the mainland.
The total number of Lots demarcated in 1902 was a follows:-
Mainland, 133,631 Lan Tao, 27,994
Total,...
.161,625
The total number of Lots claimed was :-
Total,.
Mainland, 164,971 Lan Tao, 18,289
.183,260.
The Full Court had 120 sittings during the year; while the President (Mr. GOMPERTZ) held 129 Single Court sittings in the Land Court and heard 19 cases under the Rent Recovery Ordinance, 14 of 1902. Rent Rolls were made out for Survey Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, and for the Districts of Tung Chung and Mui Wo in Lan Tao Island.
The Rent Roll for the rest of the Territory is being pushed on and will be complete before the end of 1903.
An Ordinance to regulate the tenure of land in the New Territory under the style of The New Territories Titles Ordinances, 1902, was passed at the close of the year, but has not been put into operation yet.
SURVEY.
The Traverse Survey was completed in December, the following being the areas surveyed during the year:-
District.
Kowloon, Un Long, Lantao Island,
Lamma Island,
Tsing I Island,
Chik Lap Kok Island,
Ni Ku Chau Island,
Sub-districts.
Tsun Wan, and part of Luk Yeuk. Tai Lam Chung.
The whole, with the exception of small portions previously surveyed near Mui Wo and Tung Chung,
The whole.
The whole.
The whole.
The whole.
To enable the cultivated areas in New Kowloon and several areas near Sha Tau Kok to be re-mapped on a larger scale,--the scale on which the original survey was plotted having been found too small in these cases,-fresh traverses had to be made; the cultivated lands south of the old boundary being also included.
One Indian Sub-Surveyor, with 6 Indian and 6 Chinese Chain-men, was en- gaged upon the work, which was connected at four points with the trigonometrical survey, upon which the topographical survey is based.
27 1903