Secretariat file 1/2914/46.
No. 138.
GOVERNMENT HOUSE,
HONG KONG.
18th June, 1948.
5
Endy
Sir,
(11) on 146-47-file
I have the honour to refer to your telegram No.1539 of 25th September, 1947, in which you approved that the period during which Crown Land may be disposed of without public auction for private housing schemes might be extended for a further year ending on 31st July, 1948, and that the concession might also be extended to cover individual buildings subject to precautions being taken against exploitation by speculators.
2.
A number of applications for the grant of land by private treaty for housing schemes and for individual buildings have been received and have either been approved or are under examination. I do not propose that this concession which has now been in force for nearly two years should be further extended. The public have had ample opportunity to take advantage of it and outstanding requirements for accommodation of European type are not so great as to warrant the sacrifice of revenue involved. I propose therefore that only applications received before the 1st August, 1948, should be considered for this special concession and that later applications should not be given the advantage of obtaining land without public auction.
3.
There is one exception to this for which I should be glad to have your approval. As you will be aware there has been a considerable revival of industrial activity in the Colony and new concerns have been transferring their interests here from Shanghai and other parts of China. Industrial expansion of this nature inevitably brings with it an increase in the labour force in the Colony for whom existing accommodation is quite inadequate. Some concerns are anxious to provide housing for their own workers and I have no doubt that other firms would contemplate this step if they had some assurance that the cost would not be made prohibitive by their having to acquire land at public auction. In view of the shortage of accommodation of this nature and of the high rents prevailing, factory labour tends to find accommodation by squatting on Crown Land or privately owned land. Proper housing schemes for workers and their families sponsored by industrial concerns would not only benefit industry by securing a contented labour force, but would also be a great boon to the workers themselves, and, from the point of view of Government, would provide housing for large numbers who might otherwise become additions to the already numerous squatters who are such an embarrassment,
4.
For these reasons I would be grateful for authority for a period of two years from the 1st August, 1948, to dispose of Crown Land for the sole purpose of comprehensive workers' housing schemes. My intention is that this concession should not be used for the benefit of small groups of workers but that, to earn the benefit of it, each scheme should provide housing for a substantial number of the workers engaged in the industrial undertaking sponsoring each ach
F:
29 JUN 1948
HEGY.
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your most obedient, humble servant,
Werks?
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
ARTHUR CREECH JONES, M.P.
GOVERNOR,
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