the Public Works Department which is thereafter also respon- sible for all maintenance work, in the cottage areas development and maintenance are the responsibility of the Resettlement Department and it is normally only work such as road surfacing which is carried out by the Public Works Department. The maintenance of the terraces, paths, roads, steps, retaining walls and contour catchwaters cannot in fact be separated from the administration of a cottage area. It will be for the adminis- trative staff of Area Officers who work and live on the spot to report all defects and also to assist as necessary in the super- vision of the maintenance and new construction work which is carried out by the department's Construction Unit or by contractors under its supervision.
81. It will be particularly important for the area staff to keep a close watch during heavy rains for any signs of erosion which might lead to landslides or collapses of terraces. There is indeed a special organization which comes into operation whenever there are heavy rainstorms. This danger is particu- larly acute in areas such as Homantin and King's Park where the terraces have been cut in steep hills of heavily decomposed granite, the most striking feature of which was at one time the number and depth of the erosion gullies. During the past three years a considerable programme of anti-erosion and rainstorm protection work has therefore been undertaken by the department's Construction Unit, most of which was com- pleted by December, 1956. This expenditure has already been shown to be worthwhile in that the extent of rainstorm damage during the year was considerably less than in previous years.
82. Officers in charge of cottage areas are responsible for day-to-day minor maintenance work and each area has a small labour force for this purpose in addition to the labour force engaged on scavenging and sanitation. As in the estates it is the policy to employ settlers for all unskilled or semi-skilled work and also as casual labourers when new construction work is being carried out.
83. Apart from the type of maintenance work to which reference has already been made there are also now quite a large number of Government buildings for the Construction Unit to maintain: 19 offices and stores, 38 married quarters for Area Officers and 1,116 Government-owned cottages.
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