CO129-592-9 Future Policy in Hong Kong- Port Administration 13-1-1945 - 4-3-1946 — Page 186

186

individual territories and which indicated principles which could be applied elsewhere. On the other hand the Office was looking als~ for the solution of practical problems and he felt that in this case the emphasis was rather more on the particular than on the general. Malaya was in many ways different from most other Colonies and, owing to its unfortunate recent history, likely to present a very special and urgent problem.

Mr. Gent agreed that this was a matter of some urgency. No mention had so far been made of coastal shipping, which came in quite strongly with roads and railways in Malaya. The Committee should know, although it was confidential, that the old system, whereby the railway was an F.M.S. railway and Port Swettenham a railway port, while Singapore and Penang were controlled by Harbour Boards, would in any case be upset and would have to be adapted owing to the constitutional, rearrangements now contemplated for Malaya.

Mr. Cohen hoped that the Sub-Committee would bear in mind the important broad principles hinted at by Lord Hailey. The ports were the bottle-necks of the trade of the territory and in order that particular interests might be subordinated to the interests of the community as a whole, it was desirable that the ports should come under the central Government rather than the local Governments, and that their control should be in the hands of the users constituted in the form of Boards. Perhaps the local problems of Malaya could be considered with that background and with that attitude to ports in general.

At the suggestion of the Chairman the Sub-Committee discussed co-option.

It was suggested that the Sub-Committee should hear the views of representatives of the railways, dock authorities, and industries concerned in the trade.

It was agreed that, since most of the people whose views the Sub-Committee would most wish to hear would be personally interested, it would be better not to co-opt them but to ask them to come and give evidence.

General Hone said that the feeling in the Malayan Planning Unit was that the commercial interests served by these ports were not in this country: Indian, Chinese and Malay interests were practically non-existent in this country at the moment; some were in India, but a large number of people vitally affected by the arrangements were still in Malaya. Therefore, although personally he would welcome a study of the various alternatives, set out in Part II of the Colonial Office memorandum, giving the pros and cons, his Unit felt that any final decision must await our return to Malaya. On this, however, there was a difference of opinion between the Colonial Office and the M.P.U. He did not think that that debarred the Sub-Committee from investigating principles and alternatives, but he thought a final decision on the matter at this stage would be premature.

Mr. Gent thought that the Sub-Committee, having heard the witnesses, could judge whether they were sufficiently representative. He personally thought that a good many users of road, rail and coastal shipping were available in England; not Orientals, but people in the Oriental business who could give a pretty good idea of what the interests of those producers were in the matter of transportation. M. P.U. was a body concerned with the brief, as we hoped, period of military administration and with military interests during that period. The Colonial Office was concerned with the long-term aspect. They wanted to have a policy, however provisional, so that the Military, during their period of administration, might as far as possible do

4

nothing