Pensions.
33
There have recently been a number of retirements
among the more senior members of the Service and more
are marked to occur in the near future. The Pensions
Ordinance, 1932, moreover has introduced for this Colony
the system, in force in many other Colonies, by which an
officer can commute a portion of his pension for a cash
gratuity. For the time being therefore an increase in the vote is necessary.
Head 32, Public Works Department.
Under Personal Emoluments the only two items that
stand out are the increase in the number of Architects
by two and a similar increase in the number of Overseers.
This matter has already been before and approved by the Finance Committee. As explained at the time, the posts
are of a temporary nature and designed to cope with the
large programme of Public Works Extraordinary. I might
remind you that it was one of the recommendations of the
Retrenchment Commission, that for Public Works of more than
ordinary magnitude special temporary staff should be
engaged; this it is now proposed to do and has been done
on a much larger scale in the case of the Shing Mun Gorge
Dam.
To cope with the greater number of meters and motor accounts it has been found necessary to create 3 more
posts of meter readers and to increase the clerical
staff of the Water Works Office by five posts. The pro- posed new Crown Leases Ordinance has been abandoned and
the staff which would have been required for its working
is deleted. As a result of the decision that the Colon;
is to retain and operate its commercial wireless services,