No.4/906/50.
MEMORANDUM
96
(a)
In September 1946 a Government wholesale vegetable marketing
scheme was established in Kowloon and the mainland part of the New
Territories. The aims of the scheme were to ensure a fair return to
the vegetable grower and a reasonable purchase price for the consumer.
The scheme is administered by the Vegetable Marketing Organization under
the control of the Director of Marketing and it is hoped that this
organization will later become a secondary co-operative institution.
Vegetables are collected from farmers of the New Territories and brought
by road to the Government Wholesale Market in Kowloon where, with imported
vegetables landed at the same site, they are sold under the supervision
The object of the Organization is not
of staff of the Organization.
the accumulation of profit but the collection of sufficient revenue to
permit it to operate efficiently, and ten per cent commission is charged
on all sales to cover running costs. The provision of adequate transport
is a vital factor in ensuring steady prices by the guarantee of regular
supplies.
The Organization at present has a transport fleet consisting of
sixteen 5-ton diesel-engine lorries and thirty-two 3-ton petrol-engine
lorries. The diesel lorries were purchased under C. D. and W. Scheme
lovine... D. 1066.and During the past twelve months have proved most suitable for
this type of work. The petrol lorries are ex-military vehicles which
the Organization hires from the Public Works Department. These petrol
lorries are nearly worn out and, with spare parts now difficult to obtain,
the Public Works Department is anxious to take the vehicles off the road.
It is intended to replace the thirty-two 3-ton petrol lorries, seldom
more than twenty of which are available due to the need for repairs and
lack of spare parts, by fifteen 5-ton diesel lorries. Only in this way
can the present efficiency of the wholesale marketing system in Kowloon
be maintained. The system is in its turn largely responsible for the
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To purchase these lorries the sum of £18,750 is requested, of
which £9,375 will be a loan. This total sum will be sufficient to
purchase......