CO129-623-8 Estimates of Expenditure- includes a report for the year ending March 1951 1-12-1949 - 31-3-1951 — Page 159

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Provision was included last year for a now

fire station at Kowloon, which it is necessary to build as the present station is temporarily housed in a requisitioned building. This was one of the items which it was not found possible to tackle during 1949/50, and the provision has been repeated under sub-head 8 to enable a start to be made this year.

With reference to the items grouped under the sub-head Medical Department, work on the Tuberculosis clinic for Kowloon, for which provision was included in last year's estimates, was held up for various reasons. The drawings have now, however, buon completed and work should commence very son. In the meantime, Anti- tuberculosis work in Hong Kong will bo continued at the Harcourt Health Centre. It was also intended last year to provide much needed additional accommodation of a temporary design for the Kowloon Hospital staff. It was felt, however, that such accommodation would take up a great deal of space, and it was clear that more would be needed when certain rcquisitioned promises, now being used for the hospital staff, are given up. It has now therefore been decided to construct permanent accommodation in the shape of higher buildings which will take up less ground space, and provision to enable this work to bo put in hand has been included under sub-head 12. Complaints have been received from time to time about conditions at Lai Chi Kok hosital, and provision is being included under sub-head 11 for the installation of a modern flush system and hot water supply and for improvements to the kitchens.

During the present year the cons truction of a Marine Licensing Station at Cheung Chau was put in hand, and during the coming year it is proposed to erect further stations at Aberdeen and Yaumati. A sum of $250,000 is available for this purpose under Loan and the sum of $197,000 provided under sub-head 14 is the balance required to complete the programme. Considerable revenue is lost owing to lack of control over the junk traffic, and it is hoped that the provision of the new stations will remedy this.

As regards the items grouped under the sub-head Police Force, a sum of $3 million is being provided for the erection of two blocks of new quarters on the old Queens College site. The provision of quarters for the Police rank and file is regarded as of great importance from the point of view of morale, and it also means that in times of mergency an adequate concentration of Police can rapidly be made.

A new Police Station is to be constructed at Shau Tau Kok where the detachment is now housed in Nissen huts. As this is in the frontier area and is

a district headquarters, it is considered important that

a proper station should be provided. Since the Chatham Road camp, which was erected for the accommodation of a possible influx of refugees from Shanghai was taken over by the Military Authoritics, there has been no spare accommodation which can be used in the event of an emergency arising. Since the re-occupation, the need for some sort of transient camp has been repeatedly felt. Up to the present, we have been fortunate in always being able to find some make-shift solution, but