CO129-590-11 Commission of Enquiry into irregularities in Immigration Departments 22-4-1941 - 19-12-1941 — Page 244

-22-

a more per

counter staff. In my office, 19ft. by 12ft., at the present time there are four desks around which nearly a dozen people work. The Commission saw what until March 24, were the permit-writing and permit signing departments. This space was formerly divided into two rooms,

the passports department and the permit-writing department. The space occupied by the latter department until just about three weeks before your visit measured 19ft. by 12 ft. 4in. and in it at one time we had as many as 39 people working around two desks and two dining

tables. This was less than 6 sq. ft. per person. Even up to March

24, the total space for the permit-writing, permit-signing, issuing and shroffs' departments, accommodating some 60 persons, is but 54% ft. by 19ft.

The danger to the health of the staff was, to say the least, serious for it was quite impossible to work and at the same time to keep the surging crowds orderly so that some reasonable system of

dealing with applicants could be carried out. The conditions under which

we worked tended to create dissatisfaction and call for condemnation.

Conditions up to even a few weeks ago bordered on chaos but such big crowds and such a demand for permits and residence certificates

were never contemplated. The noise was at times deafening and nerve- racking. Almost every day, from morning till late in the afternoon, the public kept either shouting or speaking at the top of their voices.

Conditions were indescribable and almost unbearable.

I estimate that the space allotted to the general public was sufficient for about 60 persons only, but on occasions we had, I am sure, at least three times that number, with scores and scores of others

pressing in from the street and ith many others standing in a queue on

both sides of the door. The crowds were so dense that the iron grille was pushed down and the lock of the front door broken. The few

policemen who were posted to duty outside were not enough to cope with them and the Emergency Unit had to be called out on a number of occasions

by the Immigration Officer. At one time there was no "In" and "Out"

system. People forced their way behind the counter and often into the Immigration Officer's private office. They took up space set aside for the staff and they blocked the passage way.

This state of affairs