Sec. 2/2526/49
SAVINGRAM
To the Secretary of State for the Colonies.
From the Governor, Hong Kong.
na
Date
216
No....
February, 1950.
Orig. on 54403/11/50.
1.29
(6) m'49
Action
54403/9/50.
Your savingram 1129 of 30th November, 1949: Colonial Development & Welfare Schemes for Irrigation, Piers and Feeder Roads.
The following is a summary of the situation as
at present:-
(a) Irrigation: The use of the £5,000 which you have approved as an interim grant is dependent upon our obtaining the services of an Irrigation Officer. As I mentioned in my despatch No. 99 of 25th May, 1949, Mr. A.P. Weir, Acting Deputy Director of Public Works, would be able to give whatever expert advice and assistance might be required on the irrigation projects at present envisaged, and my chief concern is therefore to find a competent field officer. As such an officer's work would be confined to small village schemes it would be necessary for him to have a thorough knowledge of drainage, in addition to some irrigation experience. I suggest that he should be between thirty and thirty-five years of age and be appointed at a point in the salary scale for Assistant Engineer (8550 8840 per month) or Engineer (8880 - 81540 per month) commensurate with his qualifications and experience. The appointment would be on contract for three years with a possibility of extension for an additional two years. I appreciate that your approval would be required in respect of the actual basic salary offered.
In view of the obvious difficulty of finding a person with a knowledge of the region and, if possible, of the Cantonese language, an unofficial approach has been made through the United Kingdom Liaison Officer to the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East, and it seems probable that we may be able to get the services of an experienced Chinese irrigation worker from this source. I would be grateful if you would let me know as soon as possible whether you approve of this line of action. Subject to your approval, I would then cause further enquiries to be made and, if a suitable candidate were found, I would request you to make an official approach in the matter to ECAFE.
(b) Piers: I am grateful for the interim grant of £5,000. At the moment I cannot say exactly how many piers can be constructed out of the £50,000 originally asked for, but borings for three piers at the top-priority sites will be taken in the course of the next few weeks, and, as a result of these borings, it should be possible to make the detailed estimates which you require. I will address you further on this subject later in the year.
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Private notes are available after approval.