CO537-(1262-1649) — Page 714

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CO 537/1427

THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES

1

restrictions. Further information is given in the enclosed Terms and Conditions of supply of National Archives' leaflet.

Please note that this copy is supplied subject to the National Archives' terms and conditions and that your use of it may be subject to copyright

00 198

7. Any idea of constructing Ping Shan now and later constructing Deep Bay would be strongly opposed by the civil authorities on the question of taking up so much paddy land. In each case the rehousing of Chinese Nationals is a serious mutter and the Chief Civil Affairs Officer considers that in cither site it will take about 12 months to rehouse displaced villagers for a 2250 yard runway. Deep Bay will require the immediate displacement of 900 villagers as opposed to 480 villagers at Ping Shan for u 2250 yrd runway, while the ultimate scheme of 3000 yards will require no more displacement at Deep Bay, but the figures will risc to 1800 villagers for Ping Shan. This rehousing business has to be arranged with individual villagers and not with the village as a whole, and the Civil are not prepared to depart from this procedure, owing, I understand, to a clauso in the original lease of the new territories in which it was agreed that the normal life of Chinese Nationals should be interfured with as little as possible. There is still 60 years of the lease to run.

8. There is a further factor of cost which we are quite unable to estimate, and that is that it will be necessary to pay compensation to the villagers for 4 or 5 years until the new land on which they are settled is producing the same standard of crops as the land on which they now arc. The civil authorities were not prepared to give any sort of estim.te of this amount. It Docs cm, however, that this resettling should be linked up with some reclamation schem further to the E where there is a large area of marshland. This is a matter which should be investigated at an early date as the ultimate siting of the villages will perhaps depend on it, Important items in the siting of villages are the wind, water and lucky or unlucky aspects. This has to be arranged with the local pricats. In addition there is the question of the moving of the bones of "ncestors. The custom seems to be to bury the dura body on one of the nearby sandy and rocky hills and after 7 years to disinter the remains and to place them in an urn, which is then placed on the hill in some suitable place where the wind and water are favourable. These mitture can be overcome but require time for negotiation, and in each case suitable compensation. There appeared to be no difficulty about the moving of the temple at the Western end of the Deep Bay strip.

9.

Additional Strips.. At both sites only one strip has been considered in the estimates, but at Ping Shan no other strip is possible except a NW/SE one, which is the one direction which all meteorological information tends to show is entirely unnecessary. It has, therefore, been ignored. Ping Shan will not provide a strip in any other direction, but Deep Bay can provide a strip practically N/S, suitable for combat aircraft, or by fürther reclamation in shallow water a 3000 yard strip running NE/SW, with good approaches.

10. A summary of time and costs is as follows:-

PING SHAN

Runway

2250 x 50 yds.

Cost

£1,900,000

3200 & TM yds,

£2.750,000

-7-

THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES

Cms

CO 537/1427

Ref.: restrictions. Further information is given in the enclosed 'Terms and Conditions of supply of National Archives' Please note that this copy is supplied subject to the National Archives' terms and conditions and that your use of it may be subject to copyright

leaflet.

Time from date of decision

18 months. Estimated by local works at 10 months.

2 years

1

2

Ins