CO129-572-15 Proposal that Asiatic Petroleum Company should erect new installations within defence boundary 11-4-1938 - 7-6-1938 — Page 16

Sir,

Enclosure No.1.

THE ASIATIC PETROLEUM COMPANY, (SOUTH CHINA) LIMITED.

16

Hong Kong. 15th March,1938

PROPOSED INSTALLATION AT YAU TONG.

With reference to our recent conversations in connection

with the possible transfer of our proposed new Installation at Tsun

Wan to a site at Yau Tong, we confirm our willingness to undertake

such a move, should it be so desired, subject to a satisfactory

understanding on the following points:-

(1) While we should be quite willing to take for our

account indirect losses incurred through any consequent delay in

the opening date of the new Installation, our readiness to move

would have to be subject to the cost of reclaiming the land and

building the Installation at Yau Tong being reasonably in line

with our similar estimates for Tsun Wan.

(2) The provision of road communication by the

Government between Kowloon and Yau Tong.

To enable us to determine the position under (1) we

should be very grateful if you could furnish us with replies to

the following points:-

(a) LAND COSTS: A rough survey of the land at Yau Tong

shows that we should require some 40 acres of land to be reclaimed

and something between 20 and 30 acres of hillside. Would the

Government be prepared to accept the same upset price for this

land as that actually paid by us at Tsun Wan i.e. $32,055.00

representing 2,137,000 sq.ft. at l1⁄2 cts per sq.ft? In this

connection would it be possible to avoid an auction by putting the

deal through on the basis of an exchange of one piece of property

for another? We take it that the Hongkong Government would be

unlikely to build a road unless we were the successful bidders so

that the conditions of sale would in any case be somewhat peculiar and might therefore, without forming a precedent, be subject to