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Relief.
SECTION II. THE PEOPLE.
20. The re-establishment of the Hong Kong dollar and the consequent worthlessness of the yen presented the Administration with a situation in which ninety per cent of the population had no money and little immediate prospect of obtaining any. The true solution to the problem lay, of course, in far-reaching economic re-adjustment, but for the moment temporary palliatives were all that the Administration could offer. The situation was held by the adoption of various emergency measures, amongst which was the allocation of $150,000 to provide free food for the destitute, and the inauguration of a large-scale public relief work programme whereby between thirty and forty thousand unskilled labourers were employed daily in clearing and cleaning the city streets. This was the beginning of a comprehensive relief pro- gramme and it was at once apparent that the Administration's commitment, in this respect was not one which could be lightly or quickly liquidated.
21. The Administration's subsequent relief programme centred in a system of free rice distribution through kitchens in all areas of the Colony whereby about 25,000 destitute persons were fed each day. These figures were never substantially reduced throughout the period of the Military Administration, and in March it was estimated that some 22,000 persons were still in receipt of this first-line relief. Concurrently, the staffs and inmates of all charitable institutions and orphanages, not under the control of the Medical Department, were issued with a total of some 2,000 basic rations daily. A further 3,000 persons were provided for from a depot organized by the Relief Department, where rice rations and ALFSEA rations were issued to needy persons, either free or on partial repayment.
22. As the Relief staff was increased by the arrival of more Civil Affairs officers and personnel sponsored by the Council of British Societies for Relief Abroad, further work was under- taken. Centres were opened where destitutes, mostly non-Chinese,
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were accommodated and fed. The first of these was Rosary Hill, taken over from the International Red Cross and administered by the British Red Cross. Subsequently four more centres were opened, where approximately 820 persons, of all nationalities, were provided for by representatives of the Salvation Army, British Red Cross, St. John's Ambulance War Organisation and the Administration's Relief Department.
23. In all these centres a system of graded relief was intro- duced whereby the gradual independence of the inmates was stimulated and every possible assistance was afforded them in finding occupation and lodgings.
24. In February 300 tons of used clothing were received from UNRRA and this was distributed over as wide a field as possible. Minor welfare organizations throughout the Colony were co-ordinated under the Bishop of Hong Kong and $30,000 was granted by the Administration to the Bishop's Social Welfare Council for distribution and for case work.
25. The Administration's relief obligations were not limited to the residents of the Colony at the time of the re-occupation. A constant stream of destitutes entered Hong Kong from Macao and China, and it is estimated that food, accommodation or clothing were provided for some 10,000 persons in this category. In addition temporary relief was extended to 2,300 UNRRA sponsored repatriates bound from Australia, Manila and Hainan for the interior of China. In January the Army RAPWI organ- ization closed down and the housing, feeding, payment and documentation of the 200 remaining repatriates, or repatriates in transit through the Colony, were undertaken by the Administra- tion's Relief Department.
26. Having entered upon relief work of so various and extensive a nature, it was impossible for the Administration to withdraw its assistance until this was justified by a considerable improvement in general conditions in the Colony. An effective reduction in the Administration's commitments was never possible and the obligation to provide for many thousands of unfortunate persons had to be handed on to the Civil Government.
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