Military Establishments throughout the Colony as well as the design and construction of new capital projects for the three Services.
2.29 With the expiration of the old agreement on 31st March, 1971, the unexpended balance of the £2.4 million was utilized towards the completion of a project then in progress, and all subsequent expenditure on capital services previously financed under the £2.4 million agreement was charged against the new £17 million agreement.
2.30 The new agreement, which is known as the 1971 Defence Cost (Works) Agreement, provides that from 1st April, 1971, to 31st March, 1976, all maintenance and minor works costing less than £250, and all minor new works costing between £250 and £5,000, will be the responsibility of the Hong Kong Government, while the cost, including 16% added for departmental expenses, of major capital works costing £5,000 and over will be charged against the Hong Kong Government's total agreed capital works contribution for the 5-year period of £17 million ($247.35 million).
2.31 Delays in the settlement of the terms of the new agreement resulted in a considerable amount of abortive accounting work, which could only proceed on the assumption that the requirements of the new agreement would be similar to those of the old. By the end of the year, however, the new procedures had been established, and the necessary adjustments had been made to bring the work onto the correct basis.
2.32 As shown in Appendices I and J, the expenditure on maintenance, new services, minor works, and capital works for the year 1971-72 amounted to $64,061,565, which represents an increase of 102.6% over the previous year, in reflection of the Hong Kong Government's increased commitments under the new agreement.
Revenue
2.33 The revenue collected by the department during the year totalled $433.272 million, compared with $380.254 million in the previous year. A comparison between the amounts collected in each of the two years on the main items of revenue is provided by the following table:
17