CO129-618-7 Port Adminstation Inquiry Committee- report and minutes of meetings 1-1-1945 - 31-12-1946 — Page 176

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(3) In June of this year the Secretary of State for the

Colonies intimated that in view of the changes which had occurred

and the lapse of time since the Owen Report had been o-nsidered by

the Executive Council, reconsideration of the main proposal for

the creation of a Port Trust appeared to be necessary. The Secretary

of State pointed out that the importance of the Port in the Colony's

economy, the social and political adjustments necessitated by the war

and the constitutional changes which are now under consideration,

clearly made it desirable that all practicable methods of control and

operation of the Port should be thoroughly investigated before any

decisive step is taken. It was these circumstances which lead to our

appointment and our terms of reference called for an investigation on

the lines suggested by the Secretary of State for the Colonies.

5.

Method of conducting the Inquiry.

(1) The Committee met on seven occasions and the procedure

described in the following paragraphs was adopted in order to arrive

at our recommendations.

(2)

The Committee considered the Owen Report, the proceedings

of the London (onsultative Dommittee, various reports submitted by

Mr. James Jolly, 0.B.E., Harbour Master, and Mr. Andrew Nicol, A.M.I.C.E.,

the Executive Engineer, Port Works Office, Public Works Department, at

The time the Owen Report was prepared, and the draft Port Trust Ordinance

prepared by Mr. Colman. Copies of these papers were furnished to all

mbers of the Committee and, with the exception of the Port Trust

Crdinance, are appended to this Report as Appendix I.

(3)

Although the Committee comprised a number of members qualified

o express the views of shipping and other interests likely to be

affected by changes in the form of the administration of the Port, the

Committee felt it was desirable that the public should be informed of

ne Inquiry and its scope and that any persons wishing to represent the

views of sections of the community likely to be affected, should be

invited to make their views known to the Committee.

Accordingly an

invitation in that behalf was published in both the Chinese and English

Press on the 15th September, 1946.

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