(C. S. 36)
FF. 23/641/50.
46
COLONIAL SECRETARIAT,
LOWER ALBERT ROAD,
HONG KONG.
(46)
(1)
CONFIDENTIAL
Ay
den Hall
31st October, 1951.
Will you please refer to our Confidential Savingram No.1208 of the 31st October 1951 about the projected fertiliser factory here. I am very sorry that you have been given so much trouble over this scheme and I hope that the whole position is now clear. I fear that we are responsible very largely for the confusion especially as paragraph 5 of our despatch No.136 of the 12th December 1950 was ambiguous. I have seen your letter 54403/15/51 of the 2nd August to Bowring and his reply of
(28) (31) the 11th August. Bowring is not correct when he says that
his Department had not been consulted on the project; before Bowring's arrival the papers were sent to the Acting Director and the memorandum on the subject which went to Executive Council was cleared with him. It is also unfortunate that Littlejohn, who attended the meeting in my office, did not say at the time that he had doubts about Brunt.
I hope that it will be possible to go on with the project because our small pilot scheme, which is turning out about 100 tons of compost a month, cannot meet except to a small degree the demands of the farmers who undoubtedly will take compost if we can provide it at the right price which must be no more than the old price at which they could obtain nightsoil. It does mean more work for them in that compost needs digging in but I understand that they now, as a result of our pilot scheme, fully appreciate that compost builds up the soil more effectively.
Yum
(J. FNicoll)
H. P. Hall, Esq., M.B.E.,
Colonial Office,
The Church House,
Great Smith Street, LONDON, S.W.1.