2.
124
to build any more Goverment Quarters in either town (unless there
may be special reasons for doing so in any particular area) but I
am strongly in favour of adopting the Malayan practice of
allocating a fixed residence to each Head of a Department. Such
allocation might be free of any rental and qualify for an addition
of £150 a year (if that maximum applies in Africa to superscale as
well as to time-scale appointments) to an officer's emoluments
for the purpose of computing his pension.
In Table H which
accompanies this despatch it will be seen therefore that certain
appointments are shewn as carrying free quarters, and the
emoluments attached to them are therefore directly comparable
with those of similar posts in Africa.
3.
The suggested Time-Scale Salaries are also computed
on the African basis, the pensionable value of free quarters in
Africa being added to the proposed substantive salaries for
Hong Kong. It is true that this will place the Hong Kong Time-
Scale officer at an advantage over his African confrère when on
furlough, but this advantage will be to some extent counterbalanced
by the necessity for the former of buying a winter as well as a
summer outfit for himself and his wife and family. A corollar ̈
of the substitution of a 15% addition to salary for free quarter
will be the provision that
(a) Government will charge for its quarters the economic rent
of each up to a maximum of 15% of the tenant's salary; and (b) that, if Government cannot provide quarters and an officer
were to satisfy the Colonial Secretary that he cannot obtain
accommodation at a rental equal to 15% of his salary, the
Goverment will pay him the difference between 15% of his
salary and the rent of an approved house.
4.
I regret that I have insufficient data on which to
attempt a comparison between the cost of living in the African Colonies and in Hong Kong, I am however assured by my principal
Financial Officers (the Treasurer, Mr. E. Taylor, C.M.G., and the
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.