}
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Registrar of Shipping, Principal Examiner of Masters and Mates,
Director of Air Services, Marine Magistrate and a member of the
Harbour Advisory Committee.
(10) Work in the Harbour, such as the reclamation of land
from the waterway, piers for Government use, and dredging, etc.,
have been executed by the Department of Public Works, but beyond
the provision of mooring buoys, navigational lights for ships, and
an amount of dredging, not much money has been spent by the
Government on accommodation in the nature of piers, etc., for
shipping and for goods imported and exported, that having been
left to private enterprise, the Government merely leasing the
necessary land.
(11)
Harbour Advisory Board and Committee. In the year 1927,
a suggestion that an Advisory Body, to be called the "Hong Kong
Harbour Board", should be established, was approved by the
Governor. The idea apparently originated with the Harbour Master
who reported that all great Ports of the size of Hong Kong had
such Boards of one sort or another and, as he had been in Colombo,
he seemed to think that the system there was the ideal one. It
was not until 1929 that the "Hong Kong Harbour Board" was actually
formed and it consisted of the Harbour Master, as Chairman, with
seven Government officials as well as four members recommended
by the General Chamber of Commerce and two nominated by the
Chinese Chamber of Commerce, together with representatives of
the Royal Navy and the Mercantile Marine, respectively.
(12)
The duties of this Board were to advise the Government
in any matter concerning the Harbour as to which the advice of
the Board might be sought by the Governor.
(13) It is interesting to note that when the General
Chamber of Commerce was consulted before the appointment of the
Board, they stated at first sight it appeared that the
appointment of such a Body without executive powers would lead to slight, if any, improvement upon the then existing organisation as regards the Harbour. Later the Chamber