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OP Y.
1.
со
4944
82
Hon. Colonial Secretary,
With reference to the callapse of houses
Nos. 13, 15 and 17 Morrison Street (and the dangerous condition of No. 11 the party wall of which has also been demolished) on
the evening of the 17th. instant, I beg to draw attention to
the fact that these 4 houses and No. 9, which is Government property and which has now also been declared uninhabitable,
separate the Old Western Market from Morrison Street and that it
would be most advisable if funds can be made available to re-
-sume the sites of those 4 houses without delay so as to rem
-lieve the congestion in and around the market and more
especially to improve the lighting of the approaches to the
Eastern side of the now market which it is proposed to erect
on the site of the old market in 1911.
2.
I fully realize that there will not be a
surplus of revenue over expenditure in 1911, however, the total
domalition of practically all of these houses makes the present
time most favourable for any projected resumption in this
quarter and offers a chance of obtaining the property at a
figure at which it is unlikely ever to be again available. At
the present moment the property can be resumed for the market
price of the land alone plus the amount usually paid for con-
-pulsory resumption.
3.
The actual cost of the new market which will
probably be $100,000 should be recovered in a little over 3
years as a fair estimate of the revenue derived from the new
market is $30,000 per annum. The present one storied market yields $18,000 per annum but is in such a dilapidated condition
that rebuilding is absolutely necessary, and it leaves no space
for fruit wholesale and retail, or salt fish, formerly sold
here in large quantities, and but little space for the sale of vegetables. There is a very great demand for stalls, the market
is in a thickly populated district end is well known es a market. It is therefore very unlikely that the demand for
shops