36
It is evident that the shortage of foreign type accommodation is proportionately much more acute than that of Chinese type. As regards Offices, Factories and Stores, the Units partially and completely destroyed only amount to roughly 7% of the housing accommodation damaged and destroyed.
5. If the figures of buildings under requisition by the Services, given in Lt. Col. J. D. Milne's report, are taken into consideration, it is evident that the foreign community are even harder hit. Roughly 7,000 of them are displaced by damage and a further 2,000 by Services requisitioning. We are warned by both Lt. Col. Milne's and Colonel Whitcombe's reports that the prospect of appreciable de-requisitioning is remote under the present programme.
6. Materials for Civilian Buildings. In Table IV are set forth estimated quantities of the chief materials which will be needed for the reconstruction. Owing to the short time available the figures must be regarded as very rough. It is felt, however, that they may form a useful guide to the Committee in considering sub-para. (v) of the Terms of Reference, In summarising the data it has been assumed that most of the repairs to buildings in Condition "A" have already been done or can be completed from local stocks. The Committee may decide to recommend that the least damaged buildinga should be tackled first, so separate figures are given for "B" and "C" and for "E", Quantities have also been roughly estimated for the houses needed to rehouse the villagers displaced by Stage A "of the Ping Shan Airfield construction in the New Territories.
The estimated shipping space is of the order of 70,000 tons, not counting cement, which, if imported, will require an additional 56,000 tons. This would probably be spread over two or more years.
7. Interim Deductions and Recommendations. Time has not yet been adequate for full analysis and discussion of the data collected, but the following points are put forward for the consideration of the Committee:—
(a) The future of the Colony is largely dependent on the rapid re-establishment of commerce and industry, both under foreign and Chinese control. Most of the key Chinese are already in the Colony and are not, in the circumstances, unreasonably housed; the foreign element is still largely absent, and roughly 75% of its normal accommodation is at present unusable. Unless quarters can be made available for some 7,000 or 8,000 foreigners in the next six months a very grave situation will arise.
The repair of living accommodation for foreigners should therefore be given the highest priority. Consideration should also be given to repairs to buildings for hospital and medical services, police, public health, education and industry, for which relative priorities must be worked out in order to use materials in short supply to best advantage.
(b) Among the bottlenecks to progress are:
(i) Inadequate qualified technical staff in the Department of Government responsible for controlling and carrying out reconstruction of buildings.
(ii) Lack of all kinds of building materials.
(iii) Insufficient skilled building labour and consequent high wages being
paid.
(iv) Lack of transport.
(c) The solution of these bottlenecks lies in :-
(i) Placing before the Colonial Office the gravity of the staff situation and the need for the immediate return to Hong Kong of as many regular technical P.W.D. employees as possible. They may be given an assurance that they will not lose the leave to which they are entitled and that passage facilities will be given to enjoy it later.
No stone should be left unturned to obtain additional qualified staff from other sources, e.g., Shanghai, Australia, India, the Services, England, and sufficiently attractive terms should be offered them. (A really capable engineer or architect from outside the Colony is unlikely to accept employment on a month to month basis.)
The existing War Establishment of the Works Branch, C.A.S., should be increased, and preparations made now for temporarily augmenting the size of the technical staff of the Public Works Department of the Civil Government for a period of, say, 2 or 3 years, till the situation returns to normal,
(ii) The importation of building materials of all descriptions is of paramount importance. Most of them are in short supply all over the world, and are likely to remain so for some time. It has been stated in Parliament in London that Government control may be expected to continue for the next five years.
Unless adequate building materials can be purchased and imported without delay it will have a serious effect on the future welfare of the Colony.
Though the problem is difficult, it is not insuperable if the need is recognised and if really energetic action is taken to solve the difficulties as they arise.
No time should be lost in acquiring as much as possible of the surplus stocks of the Australian and U.S. Armies in the Pacific and the necessary financial facilities should be afforded.
This Colony has suffered more than anywhere in the world through loss of timber in buildings. Immediate and energetic action should be taken to obtain teak and hardwood from every available source. A total of 17,000 tons is needed for repair work alone, not counting new construction.
An adequately staffed Stores Department, with men experienced in buying and handling engineering and building construction stores should be organised by the Administration. The services of importing firms should also be enlisted; but they are unlikely to be able at this stage to obtain the necessary priorities without Government assistance.
(iii) It is not considered that shortage of skilled labour will prove a per- manent handicap. As soon as it is known in China that good wages can be obtained by building labour in Hong Kong an adequate supply of men will probably come forward.
(iv) There is plenty of transport (Jeeps, 15 cwt. and 3 ton trucks) with the necessary tyres and spares now available from the disposals organisations of the Australian and U.S. Armies in the Pacific. No time should be lost in arranging for adequate numbers of them to he imported into the Colony for the use of the Administration and for sale to the public for essential services. Qualified technical men should be sent by air at once to the various transport disposal depots to ensure that only vehicles in good order are purchased and that there is an adequate provision of tyres and spare parts.
8. The above suggestions are of an interim nature and are submitted to draw attention to the immediate requirements. When adequate time has been made available to full consideration of the whole question of building reconstruction in the Colony, it will be possible to submit to the Committee definite proposals for a full reconstruction policy.
Hong Kong, 18th February, 1946.
(Signed) L. W. AMPS,
Lt. Col. R.E. S.O. I (CA) Works,
Buildings & Lands.
- 14
-
15
-
1
37
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.