CONFIDENTIAL
HONG KONG PORT ADMINISTRATION INQUIRY COMMITTEE
Representations reccived in response to an invitation addressed to certain persons by the Chairman on 23.9.46.
No.20
From:
(a)
(Continued)
The Hon. Mr. A. Morse, C.B.E.,
Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.
Dated: 16th October, 1945.
In response to your Chairman's letter of 23rd September and your letter of 9th October, I regret that owing to my absence in Shanghai it is only now I have had time to express to your Committee my views on the future administration of tle Port of Hong Kong. It may be convenient if I male my comments under the headings given in the terms of refcrenoe to the Committee.
The establishment of a Port Trust to control the Port of Hong Kung as recommended by Sir David Owen might have some advantages from a purely administrative point of view. It would not, however, in my opinion, be in the public interest that such a Trust should be established. Sir David Owen admitted that private enterprise had hitherto succeeded to a remarkable degree in meeting the needs of the Port, and I think that it is essential to the future prosperity of Hong Kong that the handling of shipping and the development of the harbour should be left to private enterprise in conjunction with Government. It is essential that harbour facilities should be kept as cheap as possible and experience has shown that for efficiency, speed and the cheapness of its facilities, Hong Kong under private enterprise has maintained a position which compares very favourably with that of other ports and which does not warrant any fundamental change of system.
The position of Hong Kong in world trade is unique. It differs basically fran that of other ports where other systems may have proved suitable. As it has no hinterland of
its own, produces very little and consumes a very small proportion of the goods imported it is essentially an entrepot and a port for the transhipment of cargo. Low charges are therefore vital to its continued existence and prosperity.
A Port Authority or Trust would on Sir David Owen's admission require its own separate staff with its engineering and technical specialists and secretariat. There is a possibility in the near future of the establishment in the Colony of a Municipal Council with its own officers and staff
The independently of Government service strictly so called. building up of a separate staff for a third authority would make the administration of the Colony top heavy, cumbersome and expensive; it would involve considerable duplication and lack of co-ordination. It would be better, cheaper and more efficient to utilize in the maintenance and development of the harbour the various Municipal and Government services under a scheme which would ensure a fuller co-ordination of the Colony's services on land and in the harbour.
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