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inefficient lighting, Nathan Road, at least, and that part of Salisbury Road which links it to the Ferry, are at present so dangerous to negotiate on a dark and wet night, that to postpone much longer the introduction of better lighting would be tantamount to a disregard of the welfare and safety of the community, pedestrians and motorists alike.
Whereas accidents have failed to impress Government sufficiently in the case of street lighting, it is gratifying to note that these have brought about provision for improvement in another direction. I refer to the vote passed last month for widening that portion of the Castle Peak Road just before Tsun Wan Village. With the completion of this work and that which is being carried out on the Taipo Road where it skirts Kowloon Reservoir, the task of eliminating dangerous corners and curves may be said to be reasonably complete. Attention should henceforth be directed to the surfaces of the various roads on the Peninsula and in the New Territories, many of which show signs of rapid deterioration. As a whole. indeed, road surfacing on the island appears to have been carried out much more efficiently—and probably more expensively-than in Kowloon, and there can be no good reason for the difference.
We in Kowloon hope that part of the vote for anti-malarial work will be apportioned to the areas near Grampian and Carpenter Roads where drainage and other sanitation measures have long been in demand.
Realising full well the difficulties facing Government in budgetting at the present time, I feel that it is nevertheless regrettable that it has not been found possible to include a sum for a Leprosarium. Government, I hope, is alive to the necessity for such an institution and it should be a primary consideration when dealing with the estimates for 1939.
One last word about Kowloon, and this is more specially concerned with its amenities. Promises have from time to time been made by Government to extend Chatham Road "Park" the name which Government chooses to apply to that strip of grass bordering Chatham Road, a use of the word justifiable only on the ground that it is used even for such places as those where motor-cars are left. These promises have not materialised. An extension of the "Park" as far as the Kowloon Football Club Stand, at ä cost which must be infinitesimal in comparison with the almost astronomical figures for personal emoluments as contained in the Budget, would bring pleasure to many.
The hope that it would be possible to make provision for carrying out this work in 1938, as expressed by the Honourable Colonial Secretary in a letter to the Kowloon Residents Association dated September 30th 1936, has not been fulfilled. It is a matter which should receive the earliest attention possible.
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