8th February
New Building on Pedder Street—Announcement was made to the effect that the three-storied annex of Jardine, Matheson & Co., Ltd., in Pedder Street, divided by a lane from Pedder Building, is to be demolished in the near future.
The building, which houses Jardine Engineering Corpora- tion on the first floor, is among the oldest in the heart of the city, having been built about forty years ago,
Replacing it will be a seven-story modern building which will be devoted entirely to offices. The architects will be Messrs. Palmer & Turner.
Protests against Sand Monopoly-As a result of an alleged irregularity and uncertain supplies of sand from Government
were made depots, protests
to Government by building contractors in the Colony. They complained that building operations were often held up because of the difficulty in obtaining a sufficient supply of sand. They also complained that their lorries often had to wait for hours to obtain a load of 3 or 4 cu. yds.
9th February
Government Quarters—It was announced that Govern- ment will provide accommodation for twenty-five families of Government officials on the site which was prepared some 25 years ago for the War Memorial Hospital off Stubbs Road, near Blacks Link Road. The accommodation will be of a temporary nature and each apartment will comprise a living room, one or two bedrooms, small kitchen and bathrooms, and quarters for one servant. A contract has been let to Messrs. Kwok Wing, and it is expected that the buildings will be ready for occupation by the end of May,
War Damaged Sites Ordinance-The report of the War Damaged Sites Committee, its recommendations and a draft War Damaged Sites Ordinance, 1949, were among the papers laid on the table at to-day's Legislative Council meeting. The Ordinance has been drafted to facilitate the clearance of war damaged sites, to provide for the recovery of the cost thereof, and for the sale of sites where required.
Occupation Sale Action-An action for specific per- formance of an agreement for the sale of No. 48 Kennedy Road and a garage attached thereto, alleged to have been entered into during the Japanese Occupation, was heard before Sir Leslie Gibson (Chief Justice) at the Supreme Court to-day. The plaintiff is Liu Lan-fong, alias Liu-Ah-lan, executrix of the will of Koo Shiu-ting alias Koo Wan-sing, while the defendant is Hangkam Kwingtong Woo, solicitor and partner in the firm of Woo & Woo.
12th February
One of the latest building schemes, expected to be com- pleted by the middle of April, is the erection on the south side of King's Road of 20 houses and shops by the Dah Yuan Real Estates Co., Ltd., China Building. The architect is Mr. S. K. Lau.
22nd February
Crown Leases, Renewal Terms—A statement was released by Government to-day on the old question concerning land leases in the Colony, which have been expiring and for which there had been no provision for renewal.
24th February
Tuberculosis Sanatorium Opened by the Governor-This project was made possible by the donation of $800,000 from Mr. J. H. Ruttonjee, C.B.E.
1st March, 1949
Tenancy Case, Possession Order Refused—An order for possession of 35 Cumberland Road, Kowloon Tong, was refused by Mr. C. A. S. Russ, sitting as a Tenancy Tribunal, because there was reasonable danger of the removal of the aged father of the opponent causing his death. The applicant, Mr. Tsang Shiu-tim, of 34 Hin Lung Street, was represented by Mr. A. J. Clifford, instructed by Mr. S. Ng Quinn, and the opponent Mr. Cheng Pang-fee of 35 Cumberland Road, first floor, represented by Mr. C. Y. Kwan.
P.W.D. Summonses Withdrawn-A deadlock between the Public Works Department, the owners of blocks of houses in Reclamation Street, Yaumati, and the tenants of the floors was settled before Mr. Scholes at Kowloon when Mr. G. Fish of the Building Authority's Office withdrew summonses against the landlords and landladies which had been before the Court for about four months. The case first came before Mr. Latimer on October 27 when the owners were summoned for failing to comply with a notice served on them by the Building Authority to take down wholly the kitchens and corbellings on the verandahs of each of the floors,
4th March
Mr. John Stephen Clerevaulx Neel has been appointed General Manager & Secretary of the Green Island Cement Co., Ltd.
Humphreys Estate & Finance Co., Ltd.-At the annual general meeting of the Humphreys Estate & Finance Co., Ltd., an extraordinary general meeting was held in which it was resolved that the authorised capital of the Company be in- creased from its present capital of $3,000,000.00 divided into 300,000 shares of $10 each (of which the whole had been issued) to $10,000,000.00 by the creation of 70,000 additional shares of the nominal value of $10.00 each.
New Methodist Hospital at Fatshan—Âṇ announcement was made of the proposal to build a new Methodist Hospital at Fatshan, South China, for the treatment of the millions of sufferers of T.B.
12th March
Old Residents leaving on Retirement-Mr. A. G. Langston, who recently retired from the Hong Kong Electric Co., of which he was Manager, is sailing home with his wife on the s.s. Corfu after nearly 36 years with the company.
A farewell cocktail party in honour of Mr. Robert Taylor, who has just retired as General Manager and Secretary of the Green Island Cement Co., Ltd., and Mrs. Taylor was held at the Jacobean Room, Hong Kong Hotel,
Queen's College Site Cleared-Over 300 wooden shacks occupied by nearly 2000 squatters on the old Queen's College site was cleared.
15th March
Shamshuipo Property Sold Messrs. Lammert Bros, sold by auction some valuable leasehold property in Shamshuipo, consisting of the site of houses formerly known as Nos. 55, 57, 59, 61, 63 and 65 Kweilin Street, Nos. 339, 341, 343, 345, 347, 349, 351 and 353 Lai Chi Kok Road, and Nos. 190, 192, 194, 196, 198 and 200 Yee Yuk Street and any erections thereon. There was only one bidder who secured the property for $320,000.00.
20th March
Vibro Piling Co., Ltd.-At the annual meeting of the Vibro Piling Co., Ltd., it was disclosed that the profit for the year $726,884.49 established an all-time record in the history of the company.
Regulations on Reconstruction-Regulations to enforce reconstruction and rehabilitation of war-damaged property in Hong Kong is under consideration by the authorities concerned. Since the liberation, Government has re-entered a total of 48 lots of land-34 on the Island and 12 on the Mainland. In some cases, re-entry resulted from non-fulfilment of the build- ing covenant or for failure to maintain and repair part of the property, it was officially stated. In the majority of the cases, however, the reason for re-entry was non-payment of Crown rent.
A Big Task and Much Done-In a final interview given to a S. C. M. Post reporter, the Hon. V. Kenniff, C.B.E., who was leaving the Colony on retirement, described the pro- blems which confronted his department immedately after the re-occupation of the Colony, the manner in which they had been overcome, and the future outlook and work still to be done.
Permanent Exhibition Hall for Colony-Announcement was made that the Government approval has been given to the scheme of a permanent Exhibition Hall for the Colony.
21st March
Application for Exemption Order—An application for exemption from the Landlord & Tenant Ordinance so as to be able to construct a seven-story building with 35 offices, was made by the Local Printing Press, Ltd. in respect of Room 1, Ground Floor, of 18 and 18a Ice House Street.
27th March
Rent
Control-An interesting letter
to the Editor, advocating rent control in the Colony, was published by the S. C. M. Post.
29th March
Hong Kong University-Site clearance commenced for the construction of another new building for the Engineering Faculty of the Hong Kong University. It is to be the new building for the Architectural Department and is situated between the Ho Tung Engineering Shop and the Peel Engineering Laboratory. It will be three stories high.
Long Tenure Wanted for Bathing Sheds-As it seems unlikely that Government will be able to start rehabilitation of bathing sheds within the next few years, it was suggested at a meeting of the Kowloon Residents' Association that the lenure for bathing sheds and sites should be for a minimum of five years, not one year as is the practice at present.
-
64
—
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.