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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
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I should now like to say a word or two about the Medical Department. There is an apparent drop of $600,000 in personal emoluments. This is however due to the transfer of certain Health personnel to the Sanitary Department, thus resulting in an increase under the latter Head. The emoluments of the transferred staff total just over $900,000 so instead of a reduc- tion in Medical personal emoluments there has actually been an increase of nearly $300,000.
Steps have been taken during the year to do away with the queues which, consequent upon the influx of population, were forming outside out-patient departments, often during the night. These remedial measures have had the desired effect, and will be continued during the coming year. An interesting development which will also be continued during the coming year is the establishment of evening paying clinics, voluntarily staffed by local private practitioners, who attend from 6 to 8 p.m. A small charge of $3 a visit is made and the scheme pro- vides much needed assistance for a class of the community who can afford to pay something but not the fees normally charged. We are all very grateful to the medical practitioners who have so kindly volunteered for this work.
Work on the Tuberculosis clinic for Kowloon, for which provision was included in last year's estimates, was held up for various reasons. The drawings have now, however, been completed and work should commence very soon. In the mean- time, Anti-tuberculosis work in Hong Kong will be continued at the Harcourt Health Centre. It was also intended last year to provide much needed additional accommodation of a temporary design for the Kowloon Hospital staff. It was felt, however, that such accommodation would take up a great deal of space, and it was clear that more would be needed when certain requisitioned premises, now being used for the hospital staff, are given up. It has now therefore been decided to con- struct permanent accommodation in the shape of higher buildings which will take up less ground space, and provision to enable this work to be put in hand has been included in the estimates. Complaints have been received from time to time about conditions at Lai Chi Kok Hospital, and provision is being included under Public Works Non-Recurrent for the installation of a modern flush system and hot water supply and for improve- ments to the kitchens.
Under the Police Force Head, provision has been made for an increase of 356 constables. This further increase in the size of the Force has become necessary owing to the unsettled conditions around us, and the ever increasing responsibilities which the Force is required to undertake as the months go by. The increase in the establishment of constables has necessitated corresponding increases in the establishment of Assistant Commissioners, Assistant Superintendents, Chief Inspectors, Inspectors, Sub-Inspectors, Sergeants and Corporals. This has brought the total strength of the Force to 4503 as compared with 4,129 in March, 1949.
As was the case last year, it has again been necessary to make heavy provision for new equipment of various kinds, and the total increase in expenditure under the Head is a little under $3,000,000. It may be thought that $153 million is a high figure for the cost of a Police Force, but as I pointed out last year, it represents a form of insurance. In the troublous times in which we live, I feel that there would be few responsible persons who would seriously dispute the wisdom of paying such a premium.
I am not sure whether the burden of responsibility which the Police have to bear is sufficiently realized. Because of cir- cumstances beyond our control we now have in Hong Kong a cross-section of the criminal population of a whole continent. We have far more than our fair share of elements engaged in under-ground activities, and it might not be out of place if I take this opportunity to pay a well-deserved tribute to the extremely satisfactory manner in which the Police have handled this potentially dangerous situation.
We included some provision in last year's estimates to enable a start to be made on quarters for the Police rank and file. I pointed out at the time what an important part this plays in the question of morale, and that it also means that in times of emergency an adequate concentration of Police can rapidly be made. We were not able to do much in this direction during the past year, but we are now in a position to start on the work in earnest. A sum of $3 million is being provided for the erection of two blocks of quarters on the old Queen's College site. In addition to the programme of new Police Stations and block houses, which is being completed from Loan funds, provision has also been included under Public Works Non- Recurrent for the construction of a new Police Station at Shau Tau Kok where the detachment is now housed in Nissen huts. As this is in the frontier area and is a district headquarters, it is considered important that a proper station should be provided. Since the Chatham Road camp, which was erected for the accommodation of a possible influx of refugees from Shanghai was taken over by the Military Authorities, there has been no spare accommodation which can be used in the event of an emergency arising. Since the re-occupation, the need for some sort of transient camp has been repeatedly felt. Up to the present, we have been fortunate in always being able to find some make-shift solution, but it is considered that this unsatis- factory position has continued long enough, It has therefore been decided to construct a further camp in the Chatham Road area, and a sum of $1,600,000 has been included for this.
I now come to the Head Public Works Non-Recurrent, which provides for a programme estimated to cost $27 million. Quite an appreciable amount of work was left over from the previous year. There were also certain security commitments so it was necessary to limit new works to the most essential items.