6.
Page 229
has
Page 229
Sir Alexander Grantham therefore made
proposals which might have some attraction for
(Anny C)
the unofficials They covered four lots of land
occupied by the Navy in the dockyard area which
are still regarded by the War Office as War
Office land. The Navy would evacuate this
land on the closure of the dockyard, and the
Governor's proposal was that if the War Office
was prepared to relinquish its claims over it
to the Hong Kong Government the latter would
maintain a defence contribution of £1m. for the and, in addition, would pay next five years
half the additional cost of
maintaining the two additional units for the
same period, subject to a reduction in the
payments if during the period the garrison
In this way the
a.]
itself were further reduced.
Governor believed that a prolonged haggle over
the terms on which the land would be surrendered
would be avoided.
7.
Hong Kong's capacity to haggle over this
accending witter Hing kong government, land no doubt exists. Freehold title cannot be
olaimed claimed to a single one of the four lots proposed.
It is doubtful in some cases whether the Army or
the Royal Navy can claim any kind of title,
other than that arising from mere occupancy.
The total extent of the land is about 16 acres
and the amount of compensation, whether for
improvements only or for those plus title, is
uncertain. It should certainly be borne in mind
in considering the financial implications of the
Governor's proposals that owing to their lack of
proper title, the Service Departments may well
be unable to establish a case for compensation
amounting to anything like the figure of £3 m.
referred to in paragraph PagZO) of 283
18.