· HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
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"That the Unofficial Members of this Council, in view of the present serious recurrent water shortage, respectfully urge the Hong Kong Government to press the Home Authorities immediately to sanction the commencement of the second section of the Shing Mun Water Scheme."
This motion is being made as an emphatic protest by the united body of Unofficial members against any further delay by the Home Authorities in sanctioning the commencement of the second section of the Shing-Mun scheme, and also in the hope that it may strengthen the hands of the Hong Kong Government, which Unofficial members cannot doubt is fully alive to the serious gravity of the present water situation.
This grave situation, which seeing that this Colony is dependent upon reservoir storage, combined with catch-waters, for its water supply, can only be relieved by the immediate commencement and urgent pushing on to completion of the large dam at Shing-Mun, with its potential storage of 3,000 million gallons, together with its necessary catchwaters.
On the 18th July, 1929, the following resolution, which was a form of a resolution then proposed by me, as amended to meet the views of the then Governor, H.E. Sir Cecil Clementi, was unanimously passed in this Council (See Hansard 1929 p. 3):
"That, in the opinion of this Council, it is imperative in the interests of this Colony that permanent measures to increase the water supply of the Colony should be pressed on with the utmost despatch."
Again, in the debate on the Budget on the 19th September in that year, I, speaking on behalf of all the Unofficial Members of Council, said. "Another pressing need is an adequate water supply. It seems most regrettable that your Excellency is not even now able to lay before us definite waterworks extension proposals under the second section of the Shing-Mun scheme, seeing that the full needs of Hong Kong Island are not (as we gather from Mr. Henderson's reports) met under present arrange- ments, and even with the pipe-line across the harbour and the building of the Aberdeen Reservoir, up to a later period than the year 1932.
Also it must be borne in mind that the construction of the big Shing-Mun Dam, which apparently is the corner-stone of the second section scheme, will take many years to complete, even after the plans for it have been drawn up and decided on."
Again, at p. 179 of Hansard, I said."We venture, however, to express grave doubts whether, unless the Government very speedily indeed gets on with the construction of the big dam at Shing-Mun, it will be reasonably practicable for the Government
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