70
HONGKONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
In the Public Works Department the principal changes Emoluments are shown in Appendix III. under Personal Under If
Other Charges " Transport and Travelling expenses has the vote for been increased from $4,600 to $10,000 owing to the large number of foremen and survey coolies employed on the new main roads under construction.
Under Special Expenditure" of $1,000 has been provided for furniture for the Stores and Accounts office.
Th
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Public Works
a sum
the
caused by the urgent need of men for His to make a serious start with the build- Majesty's Forces, the Government intends
the provision of suitable accommodation higher branches of the service and with ing of quarters for public officers in the for the large scavenging staff of the Sani- tary Board. I will now take the items as they appear in the Draft Estimates before you.
tral Police Station has been much re- The work on the extension of the Cen tarded by the want of necessary material, but it is hoped to complete the building next year.
the building in which the Imports and A start is being made at once with Exports Department is to be housed in the Public Works Committee (Sessional accordance with the recommendations of be erected first is that forming a con- Paper No. 20 of 1917). tinuation of the Harbour Office in Con- The portion to naught Road.
each, and there is space between the build- ings for tennis courts.
The addition to the Public Works
Offices in Albert Road will provide extra office accommodation which is urgently re quired.
Under Public Works Recurrent sum required in Hongkong for gas light ing has been increased by $12,000 to meet the advance of 20 per cent. allowed on the contract rate with the Gas Company and the cost of additional lamps. provision for the maintenance of the The water-works in the City and Hill Dis- trict has been raised by $60,000 to meet the increase in the cost of coal, additional pumping, and the maintenance of the the ridge above Wongneichong Road in new filter-beds at West Point.
Item 3 provides for twelve houses on loon the cost of gas lighting shows an site is a good one and commands a fine
In Kow- three terraces of four houses each. increase of $3,300 for the same reasons view over the eastern end of the har- as I have given above. In the New Ter-bour. These houses will have five rooms The ritories the vote for maintenance of Roads and Bridges has been increased by $4,000 owing to the extension of the main roads and widening of others. A sum of $7,000 is provided under the head and Rainstorm Damages
Typhoon cost of repairing slips in new cuttings.
to meet the Under Public Works Extraordinary" the total expenditure proposed is over 24 million dollars, which largely exceeds any sum hitherto devoted in public works in the history of the Colony, year to but about half of this sum is absorbed by works already in progress or to be begun this year. The time may not be propitious for schemes, but the Government has no option
embarking in the matter. The growth of the popula. large tion has more than kept pace with the building activity of the last six years, and it is essential that both in Victoria and in Kowloon new areas made accessible by main roads for every should be class of domestic building. ever, as the sum provided is, I can as- Large, how- sure hon. members that it represents a small percentage of the expenditure re- quired thoroughly to develop this great port to meet the probable needs of the next few years. Despite the reduction in the staff of the Public Works Department
one
on
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Scavenging staff of the Sanitary Depart- It is proposed to erect quarters for the ment in the Central and Eastern Dis- Central District, which will have ample tricts. Item 5 is for the quarters in the accommodation for nearly three hundred men.
Land on the Eastern slope of Mount In the Hill District it is proposed to Gough below the property known as erect quarters for senior officers on Crown
Government in November last, and other sites not yet settled on.
Tanderagee," which was acquired by the
quarters. and 7 make provision for starting these Items 6
on
Item 8 provides for quarters for the Chinese staff at Taitam Tuk Pumping Station.
to provide quarters for the European staff, as it has become necessary to use The extension of the Lunatic Asylum is the present quarters for wards.
HONGKONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
For some time past the building of a Crematorium has been under considera- tion, and it is now proposed to erect one in the vicinity of the cemetery at a cost of $5,500.
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The matshed which has hitherto served the purposes of the Police Recreation Club is past repair, and it is proposed to erect a suitable building out of public funds.
A start will be made at once in order that the building may be ready early next
year.
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tain negotiations now in progress; and to item 27 for catch-waters in connection with the Taitam Tuk water-works. These catch-waters form part of a large scheme for conserving water from the hills on both sides of Taitam Bay with a view to making the fullest use of the new re- servoir.
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In Kowloon, Item 30 completes the scheme of quarters for subordinate offi- cers, bringing the total number of quar- ters in Hongkong and Kowloon up forty-two. It is also proposed to extend the shelter for jinrikishas at the ferry pier, as the present structure has proved inadequate.
Under the head " Communications"" a beginning is to be made in the construc- tion of main roads in accordance with a scheme of comprehensive large and development in the peninsula. The Goy- ernment is fully alive to the demands that will arise for good roads and ade quate means of transport in Kowloon, but I think hon. members will realise that at the present time only the most urgent The other works can be undertaken. items under Kowloon are of the usual na-
ture.
In the New Territories the only build- ing contemplated is the completion of the market and reclamation at Tai O, and under the head "Communications" it is only proposed to complete the new road to Castle Peak; to widen the remaining portion of the road to Taipo; and to im-
from prove the surface of the road Fanling to Un Long.
Under the heading "Communications Sub-heads (a) to (under Item 13 refer to works already in progress. Sub-head (h) refers to a new 20 foot road, which it is proposed to construct from a point in Morrison Gap Road. The road will have a ruling gradient of 1 in 20, and will pass above the cemeteries in Wong neichong Valley round the top of the valley at a height of about 300 feet into Tai Hang Valley, finally emerging at Tai Hang Village. This road will open up considerable areas of land suitable for building purposes and it can be extended through Wongneichong Gap to the south side of the island. Subhead (4) is a branch from the road referred to above, which will cross Bowen Road and continue to rise to the neighbourhood of Wanchai Gap. This road will also open up some good building sites below middle gap, and may eventually be continued to con- nect with Craigmin Road, thus giving access to the Peak District. Subhead (j) is a path in connection with the quar- ters referred to in Item 6. The sun pro vided under Subhead () is required to resume portion of the lots on the east side of that part of Wanchai Road that runs from the Wanchai market to Praya East. This road is much congested, and the proposed work will effect a great im- Similarly in the district.
Under item 46 a sum of $24,000 is pro- provement Subhead (7) will improve the access by vided for establishing telephonic com- Queen's Road East to the new road in munication with the Police Stations on The best Wongneichong valley. Hon. members Lantau and Cheung Chau. have recently asked that this work may method of communicating with these be expedited, and the sum of $150,000 pro- | Police Stations has been under consid vided will enable a good deal of the eration for some time, and, though more widening to be carried into effect next year. Subhead (m), (7) and (0) are for much needed improvements. As regards the remaining items in Hongkong I need only refer to item 19, which provides for the reconstruction of certain piers in connection with the new ferry service: to item 25, under which a much larger sum than usual has been provided for com pensation and resumptions in view of cer-
The development of the new town at satisfac- Shamshuipo has proceeded so torily that it has become desirable to pro- ceed with the reclamation of a further area of sea-bed at a cost of $80,000 and, under Item 49, to provide for laying water-mains.
modern devices have much to recommend them, the ordinary submarine cable and land line is, for the time being, consid- ered the most practical and efficient scheme.
The estimated total cost of these works is $2,610,450, and, as I have already re- marked, it might be much larger without exhausting the present needs of the Colony.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.