2.
7
to pay calls for the cost of the work as construction
progressed.
4.
Cheung Ah Shap, who had removed in 1907
to Shan Hai Kwan, and severed his connection with the
Colony, failed to participate in the scheme, of which he knew nothing until 1925. In consequence this Govern- ment carried out and paid for the reclamation of the
area
13,608 square feet in all.
5.
In 1929, when the Praya East Reclamation was practically completed, he made application for permission to participate retrospectively in the scheme, which amounted to a proposal to refund to Goverment all money expended on the reclaimed area and to take
immediate possession of it.
6.
This proposal was not considered possible, and it was held by the legal advisers of the Crown that
he had no enforceable claim for relief.
7.
He then petitioned on moral grounds, i.e., that his failure to participate was clearly the result of his absence from the Colony. There appears to be no doubt that had he been in the Colony he could have disposed of his right to participate in 1921, with all the obligations and risks, at an estimated figure of $2.00 per square foot, or $27,216. The property, which has cost $32,804.44 to reclaim, is today valued at $120,000, but it must be remembered that Cheung Ah Shap escaped all the burdens of outlay and other anxieties of the scheme, and as he had left the Colony it seems almost certain he would have sold out in 1921 if he had entered into the necessary participation agreement.
8.
I have consulted my Executive Council
and with their concurrence I have the honour to request
Your
Page
3.
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