XN000022-1972-10-03 — Page 5

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Tuesday, October 3, 1972

BRITISH AWARD FOR DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS

The Director of Public Works, Mr. J.J. Robson, has been awarded a

Telford Premium by the British Institution of Civil Engineers (I.C.E.) for a

paper he submitted on "Overall Planning in Hong Kong".

The 36-page article, which deals with, among other things, housing,

road, traffic and transportation, was presented to the Conference on Civil

Engineering Problems Overseas in London in June last year.

As its name implies, the bi-annual conference is designed to study

these problems.

Telford Premiums were instituted following a bequest made by

Mr. Thomas Telford, the first President of the I.C.E. In addition to the

premium, which is worth £50, Mr. Robson will receive a certificate.

The Director of Public Works began his article with a description of

the barrenness of Hong Kong when it was proclaimed a British Colony in 1841.

He then recalled how Hong Kong has been transformed since the war

from an entrepot port to an overcrowded manufacturing community, and the influx

of refugees whose presence had given rise to problems such as housing, schools

and hospitals.

Referring to housing, Mr. Robson said the Government began a

resettlement building programme following a disastrous squatter fire in 1953

in which 53,000 people lost their homes.

In addition, the Government has financed two other programmes for

providing accommodation for residents living in overcrowded and unsatisfactory

conditions.

To date,