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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
however it is hoped will very shortly be righted. Meters have in very many cases owing to pressure of the demand and the delay and expense that connection with the principal mains would have involved been installed by interposing them on the house connections from the rider mains, with the result that it was no longer possible to bring the sections concerned into use on the rider main principle. In such cases the rider main connections to the unmetered houses have been removed and we are therefore now in the position of being unable to restore the rider mains as they originally stood in these sections without incurring the expense and delay of restoring these connections. In all there are some 2,600 cases of houses disconnected in this manner from the rider mains and 685 applications for meters have been received from those concerned. It would seem therefore that some 2,000 of those so concerned have not yet found it worth while to apply for a metered supply to their houses. In deciding to place meters on the rider main connections the Public Works Department had to consider not only the speed at which the work could be done but also the expense and inconvenience involved in making new connections with the principal mains. Meters could be placed on rider main connections in most cases without opening the roads. Honourable members can well picture the state of our streets if they had had to be opened in 600 separate places to install the 600 meters which have been granted in the last four months.
The Shing Mun Valley Gorge Dam is now approved and no time will be lost in pushing on with the work. When it is complete there is a reasonable prospect that there will be full supply in the Colony for at least a few years until it may be the population again outgrows the new supply. But we have no justification for relaxing our fight against waste and even with the possibility of a few years full supply we should not go back to a system that has been tried and found wanting. In any case as I have already stated the transition is too far advanced for any calling back now and there is nothing for it but to complete the installation of the meterage system. It is proposed to proceed on the lines of leaving any sections of the rider main system that have already been disconnected alone for reasons already given. The applications that have been received for additional meters in these sections are being dealt with at once and it is suggested that the owners of the remaining 2,000 houses should make early application for meters if they wish to have a water supply in their houses. The principle on which Government proposes to work in connection with those sections of the rider mains in which no meters have been inserted is to allow them to be used when the water supply permits until such time as rider mains can be progressively superseded on lines I will explain. Incidentally the recent rains have fortunately enabled us as from 2nd August to open all possible water in accordance with the arrangements I am setting out to-day. All these remaining sections will be closed as rider mains from such time as the Public Works Department is in a position to substitute meters for all those that may apply for them; but the details
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