Crown Land are under the direction of the Director of Public Works. The amount of premium realised from Land Sales during a single year has ranged as high as $816,000, and the amount derived from Crown Rents and from Government Properties under the control of the Director of Public Works now reaches nearly $480,000 per annum.
Extensive resumption schemes for Sanitary and other purposes also come under the Director of Public Works. The following are a few of the most important ones in recent years:-
Site for Government Offices....................$508,000
Kau U Fong Insanitary Property Scheme...231,000
Mee Lun Lane Insanitary Property Scheme.248,000
Blackhead's Lots (Railway)....................615,000
Other extensive resumptions are in progress at the present time.
4. The mere fact that the Staff of the Public Works Department comprises 18 Officers whose maximum salaries range from £480 to £810 per annum and 37 Officers with maximum salaries of from £225 to £450 per annum would appear to justify the payment of a higher salary to the Head of the Department. The whole of the Staff is concentrated in Hongkong and there are no Officers who are...