CO129-619-4 Department of Supplies- Trade and Industry- organization and finance 19-3-1949 - 31-3-1949 — Page 31

To: Hon. Financial Secretary.

From: Director of Supplies, Trade and Industry.

Enclosure 1.

21st June, 1946.

27

1.

and

I have now had time to study the needs of this department,

having due regard to the temporariness of its activities I have made the

following analysis :-

(i)

Directorate.

The only weakness is the use of B.O.R.s who must

eventually be repatriated to Britain; there are five

doing Signals and General Registry work, but I think

they could be replaced by three Chinese clerks.

(ii)

Procurement Section.

An examination of the future activities of this

section indicates that it will continue to be responsible:-

(a) for procuring from India or elsewhere what

remains of the Military Period programme and the

raw materials for industry.

(b) for identifying from shipping manifests and from

the meagre documents forwarded here all Government

cargoes.

(c) for collating and indenting with C.A. the second

six months food programme and other essentials

programme; and

(d) for supervising the arrival of the second six

months food programme which, to a large extent, is

on Government account.

-

RE

At the present moment all the Executive officers from

this Department there were three have left for home on

demobilisation and I am threatened with the removal of the

remaining four B.O.R.s. This is a very unfortunate state of

affairs, particularly since I am far from happy about the

comprehensiveness of the records of incoming War Office cargo

compiled during the Military Period. The chief difficulty lies

in the fact that no proper Bills of Lading or Invoices were