3
Government from proceeding with urgent works.
As
early as 1924 Mr. Duncan, the then Port Engineer,
gave it as his opinion that these obstacles in the
modem
way of marine accommodation for shipping ought somehow to be removed (para. 5 on page 59 of enclosure 1).
The storage of merchandise for local con-
sumption, export, or in transit, is similarly carried
out by a multitude of firms each owning or leasing
go-downs around the harbour, and the public storage
of all kinds in go-downs and warehouses is estimated
to be in the neighbourhood of 833,000 tons. Apart
from this the Oil Companies are able to store in
their tanks and go-downs about 200,000 tons of oil
of various descriptions at any given moment.
The problem of the future administration of
the port first came to the notice of the Government
early in 1937, when one of the Ferry Companies raised
the question of whether the Government was prepared
to renew their pier leases which are due to expire
on December 31st, 1949. Subsequently, on October
13th, 1938, the Governor made an announcement in
the Legislative Council to the effect that it was
not the Go ernment's present intention to renew any
of the Pier leases which would expire on that date,
as it has in fact been the Government's policy for
the last 17 years to take possessionfall pier sites
in 1949. The Governor, however, promised that the
question of the future organisation of the port
would at once be taken into consideration.
The fundamental issue of the problem may be
summarised in the question: By which of the follow-
ing methods is the future development of the port
to