- 3 -
to the Society of $2,000,000 approximately, to meet the cost of erection of the flats.
10.
40
I have not attempted at this stage to discuss all the valuable suggestions made in your despatch under reply. You will, however, observe from paragraph (a) of the accompanying memorandum, that the Hong Kong Housing Society, to which I propose to entrust the initial Pilot Scheme, is conscious of the need for proper housing management referred to in paragraph 6 of your despatch, and has already provided for it. With regard to paragraph 8 of your despatch, a barrack type of accommoda- tion with communal kitchens, sanitation and washing facilities has been considered in some detail, but ruled out as socially unacceptable in Hong Kong. I am satisfied that to build accommodation of this kind would be a retrograde step to be avoided even at considerable extra cost. The high incidence of tuberculosis in the Colony is a further argument against this type of construction, and there is the economic consideration that, in the event of a significant drop in the population by emigration, a barrack type of dwelling would rapidly become unlettable.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your most obedient, humble servant,
Machautham
GOVERNOR.
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
JAMES GRIFFITHS, M.P.
Encl: Memorandum