2.
the right of the Company to load and unload coal here should
be relinquished. The Company maintain that this right is a
very valuable one as it enables them to transport coal from
the water front to their existing works at a very low cost.
The Land Officer is of the opinion that to deprive them of it would involve Government in a heavy claim for damages. The Attorney General concurs in this opinion.
3. I therefore recommend that the site now applied
for by the Company be granted to them by private treaty on
Enclosure No.2. the terms and conditions of which a copy is enclosed. Premium
is at the rate of 50 cents per square foot as against 75 cents
per square foot in the case of the original area applied for,
and there is no restrictive condition confining the use of the
site to the purposes of a gas works as there was in the
previous case. In return for these more favourable terms the Company agrees under Special Condition 8 to relinquish its right of way from Kowloon Inland Lot No.395 to the end of
Jordan Road.
4. I consider the terms to be advantageous to Government and should be glad to have your approval of them
by telegram. The attorneys for the Company have already
signed the memorandum of agreement incorporating them.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your most obedient, humble servant,
W.D. Southony.
Officer Administering the Government.