:.
117
!
198
HONGKONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
Regarding the cost of laying the light line, which may he required during 1912. Under I will speak when I come to the expenditure" Training Nallabs" $3,000 is provided for * upon railways. The total cost of this road
a stream near the first bridge on the Pokfu-
A
A sum
24.1 miles in length - up to the end of this lam Road, $7,400 for two nullahs at Shan- year is
down at $140,000, including pur-kiwan, and $600 for one m May Road. put chase of land. Adding the sums of $36,000 | These are recommended by the Sanitary and $5,000 required to complete the two and Principal Medical Officer as being the unfinished sections (San Tin-Au Tau and most urgent and are all situated in districts An Ha-Sha Tau Kok) its entire cost will be where the most malaria has occurred. $181,000, to which we may add $54,107 for further $19,000 is provided for nullahs in the light Eue. It is money well speut, not the vicinity of Wanchai or Bowen Road, big, only as a feeder to the railway and for ad- it has not been definitely decided which c ministrative and police purposés, but also be them will be taken in hånd first. cause it is a legitimate and proper benefit to of $4,000 will complete the work shown un- the taxpayers of the New Territory. I do der "Flushing Tanks and Iron Pipes." not propose to broaden the road beyond Fauhug where it forms the track of the light line. The cost of broadening the re- mainder to the full 14 feet is estimated at $62,000 only. In addition to this I propose to construct a short brauch from Au Tau to the large village of Kam Tin on the same principles, at a cost of $9,000, which is now provided. This may in future years be ex- tended to the foot of the hills towards Taipo and thence cross the gap by a bridle path.ment area of Aberdeen r servoir, and to con- The length of the present section is one mile.
The total vote for Roads, New ❘ be treated by filtration or connected with the Territory," therefore stands at $24,000.
Hongkong Roads and Nullahs
The vote for roads and streets in Hong- kong, hitherto called “Forming and Kerb | ing Streets," stands at $30,000. Of this $15,00 is for a road to connect Chamber- lain Road with Plantation Road, and onward to open up some new sites-at an estimated cost of $17,000, of which $2,000 will be spent this year out of the vote "Forming and kerbing streets." As there was some divergence of opinion regarding the route this road should follow, I referred the mat- ter for the advice of the Public Works Commi tee, whose report has been laid on the table to-day and whose recommenda- tions have been adopted. Other items under this heading are the diversion of the Bonham Road at No. 2 Tauk (13,00), where a large depression has been filled in and a valuable site made available; a continuation of the scheme of improvement at Taihang Village, $2,000; improvements near the junction of Bonham and Pokfulam Roads, $3,000, and the improvement of a further
|
Drainage and Survey
The Miscellaneous Drainage Vote includes a sum of $5,000 for necessary works in con- uection with the large reclamation scheme at Shamsuipe; and ≥7,500 to complete, at a total of $13,500, the Craiguin Road sewer which is being made to intercept the sullage water from houses situated within the catch-
duct it to Wanchai Gap, where it may either
city sewers. $2,500 is set aside for the sewer- age system at Shaukiwan West in connection with developments occurring there; $1,400 in connection with reclamations at Yaumsti, and $1,850 for the extension of the stor water drain near 'Blackhead's Point.
This leaves a balance for works in connection with now lenses and general purposes in 1912 of $9,250, of which $1,100 will probably be required for a drain near the Anatomical | Theatre, and $1,000 to substitute 12-inch for 9-inch pipes between Garden Road and the City Hall. Total vote, 27,500.
For the triangulation survey 35,000 was provided this year. Of this about $2,000 will be spent, making an estimated total to December 31st of $4,2838. $1,500 is provid- ed for 1912, and I am glad to say that this very greatly needed survey of Hongkong Island of which after seventy years of occupation we possess no
even tolerable map--is making fair progress.
Royal Square
The iron fenci g around the garden plots section at Wong Nei Chong, $1,000, leaving in Royal Square will cost $13,880. The $7,000 for any unforeseen minor works class of fencing which should be adopted
I
HONGKONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
Water Supply
199
bas been much discussed, and unless during this debate other views should be expressed,
The expenditure on the Kowloon Water propose to adopt the recommendation of the Public Works Committee and order rail- Works, which bave cost the Colony a total ings exactly similar to those at present on sum of $1,279,379, has now ceased with the western side of the Square. Personally their completion. They are indeed a magni- I think that it would have been preferable ficent undertaking, and the supply of water to take the heavy railings from the seaward which they provide is so much in excess of lots and to use them for the southern un present demands that we may feel some con- fidence that a considerable time will elapse fenced plots opposite the Law Courts, so that they would be symmetrical on either before the Colony has to trouble about the de, and to fence the two plots east and water supply on the other side of the har west opposite the Hongkong Club and near-bour. The new scheme for a better water est the sea with a somewhat lighter class of supply to Shaukiwan was approved by the fencing and with fewer masonry pillars, so Council last year at an estimated cost of as not to detract from the sense of open space $60,000, of which $40,000 was voted, and which it is most desirable that the Square $17,000 will have been spent this year, should convey to the eye, and to allow the $30,000 has been placed on the estimates to Similarly, $30,000 view to sweep upwards from the sea front carry on the scheme. unimpeded by small plots highly palisaded, was voted last year for an additional service It is, however, a matter for the community reservoir at West Point, and as the Council to decide as it way please.
has approved the proposals I need not recall the reasons for the work. It has not, how- ever, been found possible to do more than It is prepare plans and estimates this year. proposed to begin the work at an early date. $50,000 is provided. Finally, we propose to commence the new reservoir at Tytam Tuk, spending $100,000 on it next year; more than this cannot, I am told, be spent by the engineers in the first year of work. The schieme for this reservoir, which, when com- pleted, will put an end for a long period of years to all our water troubles and make us independent of Pokfulam, is not yet finally settled, and it will in due course be laid before the Public Works Committee. sincerely glad that this undertaking, which will cost upwards of two ullion dollars, should be inaugurated while I am in the Colony. Like the Typhoon Refuge, it will be an immense boon to the Chinese, who at present are annually placed on a restricted water supply during a considerable portion of the dry season.
Piers
Last year a sum of $30,000 was provided for a pier opposite the Square. The work has not yet been taken in hand. I think myself that it is open to question whether another pier at Kowloon is not a more ur- But, it is difficult gent necessity than this. to decide at what point such a pier could be most advantageously placed until we know definitely where the main railway station will be located. This is a subject upon which opinions differ radically, and after much discussion it was decided to hold the matter over until we have some idea, not only of the nature and the amount of the through traffic to Canton, but also at what hours of the day chief pressure will occur, and consequently in what manner the railway can best be serv. ed by the ferry. I hope to lay papers on this subject shortly so that the Council and the Public may form their own opinion on the merits of the various schemes which have been advocated. In the meantime I think it is better to hold over the construction of the pier, the more so that the question of whether one is required at Royal Square and, if so, of what class its roofing should be, is also a matter of some controversy, and the question does not press. If before the end of next year a definite view finds general ap- proval, either for a pier on this side or on the other, we can commence construction on a supplementary vote.
Other Works
I am
The vote for Miscellaneous Works stands at $20,000. The minor works foreseen are few. They include 81,000 for ricsha stands and $1,000 for walling in the area at the junction of Arbuthnot Road and Wyndham Street, with $860 for two other small works. The balance of the vote is for unforeseen minor works during 1912. The important reclamation opposite the Typhoon Refuge at