CO129-313 - Governor Sir Blake - 1902 [10-12] — Page 217

East Praya Reclamation Scheme.

THE OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE.

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The following are the letters, with enclosures, that passed between the Hongkong Government and the Hon. C. P. Chater, C.M.G., with regard to the Praya Reclamation Scheme :--

MR. CHATER TO THE GOVERNMENT.

HONGKONG, 12th June, 1900.

Six-In the month of July, 1887, I submitted for the consideration of His Excellency Major-General Cameron, then Administering the Government, a project for the reclamation of the fore- shore of the Colony from the Western boundary of the Military Cantonments westward to the Gas Works. The pro- ject was approved and accepted by the Government and by the land owners concerned, was sähetioned by the Secretary of State, and has been, to a very great extent, carried out and completed in accordance with my original proposals, at an expense to the Colony not exceeding my estáinates and with greater pecuniary profit and advantage to the Government and to the Colony than oven I ventured to anticipate. In only one respect has that project failed to accomplish all that was expected from it. My prin- cipal object in suggesting it was to relieve the overcrowding in the older portions of the City and so improve tho general sanitary condition of the Colony, then greatly in need of improvement. The length of time the Praya Reolama- tion has been in hand and the steady growth of the population during the twelve years that have elapsed since first I mooted the scheme, have prevent- ed the Colony from obtaining any adequate relief of that kind in spite of the very considerable area of new land added to the Colony, and, it will have, I am afraid, to be admitted that in the central districts the overcrowding is now as great, if not greater, than in 1887.

I have now to submit for the consi- deration of His Excellency Major-

General Gascoigne, c.M.G., the Officer at present Administering the Govern- ment of the Colony, another scheme of the same class and character but more extensive, having the same object in view the improvement of the sanitary condition of the Colony by the creation of additional building land sufficient for the erection of 2,413 Chinese houses of the most improved construction, well lighted and ventilated, and capable of accommodating an adult population of about 150,000 people, allowing thirty square feet of floor space and four hundred and fifty cubic feet of air space for each adult. I propose to increase the practically available area of the Colony by 4,227,400 square feet, or 97.03 acres. Of this area 2,665,300 square feet, or 61.18 acres, will be an actual addition to the size of the Island by reclamation from the sea, and 1,562,100 square feet, or 35.85 acres, will be made available by the cutting down, leveling and laying out of ground now practically useless. Of the 4,227,400 square feet thus added to the Colony, 2,486,780 square feet, or 57.08 acres, will be building land, and 1,740,600 square feet, or 39.95 acres, will be added to the area already covered My pro- by public roads and streets. posals, if successfully carried out, will put into the Treasury a lump sum of at least $637,050, will improve the revenue from Crown Lands by the sun of $33,910 per annum and from taxes by the sum of $150,571 per annum), and all this will be accomplished without any expense whatever to the Government.

All this 1 propose should be done within five years from the date when the work is sanctioned by the Secretary of State, provided due diligence is used. The work, although more extensive, is

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