1st November
HONG
KONG BUILDING
INDUSTRY DIARY
SUMMARY OF IMPORTANT AND INTERESTING EVENTS DURING
NOVEMBER & DECEMBER, 1950.
The area situated in Hongkong which is bounded on the northwest by a line along Kwai Fong Street and projected to the boundary of IL. 3052, on the south-west by the north- east boundary line of I.L. 3053, on the south-east by Hawthorn Road, and on the north-east by Sing Woo Road is to be cleared of squatters.
The reason Government has ordered the clearance of 1,011 huts, involving 1,814 squatter families (about 6,000 persons all told) from the Causeway Bay area is because the land is required for the building of workers flats, the Social Welfare Officer, Mr. J. T. Wakefield, said.
Two major clearances were carried out in Kowloon during October and 178 shacks removed, states the Urban Council report. Routine squatter patrols removed 644 shacks from gazetted and cleared areas, and 42 from non-gazetted areas as a fire precaution, clearance of building sites, etc. Altogether during the month 864 shacks were removed.
One of the Colony's largest squatter areas was demolished as over 150 Sanitary Department coolies as well as occupants of the squatters' huts pulled down over 2,000 wooden huts in three villages, Nga Choi Village, Fortress Hill Village and Chungshan Village.
4th November
Until recently, about sixty lepers were housed in an over-crowded ward in the Tung Wah Hospital, but the situa- tion has now been eased by the transfer of these unfortunates to the Lepers' Home of the Tung Wah Hospital at Stanley Bay which has been officially proclaimed by the Officer Administering the Government as a leper settlement.
Work on the erection of a Radio-Sonde Station on a hilltop in King's Park, Kowloon, near the covered reservoir, will begin within a very short time. The station will be a branch of the Royal Observatory
6th November
A proposal was made at the second Committee meeting of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce that the directors of the Chamber should make a second effort to obtain funds for the new building scheme. An additional sum of not less than $500,000 as a target was set at the meeting. A sum of $631,000 in cash has already been received.
7th November
The provision of suitable sites for future schools in Hong Kong is of the utmost importance for the proper development of an expanding community, Mr. J. Charter, well-known architect, declared in a lecture.
8th November
A considerable amount of correspondence appeared in the newspapers concerning the conversion of part of Statue Square into a car park.
10th November
Holding that it was absurd to make a distinction between lunar monthly tenancies and calendar monthly tenancies, M1. Justice Scholes in the Supreme Court gave judgment in favour of the applicant for an eviction order in a tenancy case.
Eight Chinese tenement building, Nos. 24 & 26 Wanchai Road, Nos. 40 & 42 Stone Nullah Lane, Wanchai, No. 7 Shing Wong Street, Central District, and Nos. 57, 59 & 22 Hollywood Road, which were considered to be dangerous by the Building Authority, were ordered to be closed.
15th November
At a meeting of the Hong Kong Realty Company, the Chairman, Mr. G. E. Marden, revealed that a loan of HK$6,250,000, to erect flats for the War Department, which could not be obtained from the Colonial Development Corpora- tion have been made available by the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. He further stated that their inability to obtain the necessary loan from the Colonial Development Corporation was due to local Government action, "On the supposition that our own Government has prevented outside capital from becoming available for housing in the Colony (of whatever type and for whatever use) I feel that we ought vigorously to protest their action."
A proposal that the City Hall Committee should accept Government's proposal to reserve a site for a City Hall on the projected reclamation area in front of Connaught Road Central and to work along those lines, was passed at a meeting of the City Hall Committee.
16th November
An editorial in the South China Morning Post discusses the projected City Hall scheme.
17th November
The name of V. N. Dronnikoff, Djou Gi-gao and C. H. Duff have been added to the list of Authorised Architects.
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18th November
The Kwok Kwong Factory, Ha Heung Road, Tokwawan, Kowloon Inland Lot No. 1800, was derequisitioned and handed back to the owner. It was requisitioned for the Army on June 22, 1949.
Nos. 167, 169 & 173, Boundary Street (Kowloon City Police Station), were derequisitioned and handed back to the owner. They were requisitioned for the Police on December 12, 1945.
Nos. 357 & 359, Prince Edward Road, ground floor and first floor respectively were derequisitioned and handed back to the owners. They were requisitioned for Government on June 8, 1946.
25th November
A new leave annex is to be built by the Forces Civilian Entertainment and Welfare Committee at Murray Parade Ground for the use of troops spending week-ends in Hongkong. Electra House, described as a symbol of continued British faith in the future of Hongkong, was officially declared open by His Excellency the Governor, Sir Alexander Grantham.
29th November
The foundation stone of the first building to be erected by the Salvation Army in the South China area was laid at 547, Nathan Road. The architect is Mr. Hugh Braga,
1st December
The Hon. R. R. Todd, Secretary for Chinese Affairs, laid the foundation stone of the new nurses' quarters of the Kwong Wah Hospital in Kwong Wah Street. Mr. Todd praised the activities of the Tung Wah group of Hospitals for their work over the past 80 years and said that it was the "most famous institution in the Colony of Hongkong." The building is situated in the Kwong Wah gardens between Waterloo Road and Kwong Wah Street, Kowloon. At present the plan provides for three stories, but provision has been made so that an extra floor can be added in the future. The building, designed by Messrs. Chau and Lee, will have an area of about 8,000 square feet.
2nd December
Many prominent members of the Kowloon Chamber of Commerce and guests attended the laying of the foundation stone of the Chamber's Hall at No. 2, Liberty Avenue. Mr. A. H. Basto is the architect.
4th December
At the annual general meeting of Marsman Hongkong China Ltd., held in its offices at the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank Building, the Chairman, Mr. T. B. Wilson, reported a net profit of HK$47,595.07 for the year ending April 30, 1950, with the Construction Department being the main source of revenue. He also stated that Mr. H. J. Pearce, MC, M. Struct. E., would be arriving in January to become the Managing Director of the Company.
5th December
To provide more land to build factories, godowns and tenement houses the Hongkong Government are doing exten- sive reclamation work near North Point. Foundation work
taking over a year has just been completed to build a 1,000- foot sea wall fencing this area. The reclaimed ground when it is completed will be sold to the public and the Government intends to fill other suitable seafronts on the completion of this project.
The suggestion of building a cross-harbour bridge was made by some members of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce at a general meeting. Those who made the pro- posal said that the sum of $10,000,000 earmarked for the opening of a new vehicular service between Wanchai and Hunghom should be used in erecting the bridge.
9th December
A pilot scheme of housing for low-salaried Chinese workers has been launched by the Hongkong Council of Social Welfare and in the near future the Colony may see a block of Alats to house 160 families built on land in Kowloon which the Council hopes to get from the Government. According to Father T. F. Ryan, Chairman of the Council, such a scheme for housing for the poor is long overdue in Hongkong. The Council hopes to show by an experimental block that the project is an economical one and the buildings will pay for themselves. The rent for each flat will be around $50.
The new China Congregational Church, in Caroline Road, Causeway Bay, was officially declared open by the Reverend Yung T. Park before a large gathering of parishioners and friends. Marking another step in the growth of the Church, whose old premises in Ladder Street will be turned into a school, the new building was constructed at a cost of more than $400,000 contributed by members of the Church.
12th December
A new village school was opened on North Lamma by Mr. E. J. S. Crozier, who was deputising for Mr. T. R. Rowell, Director of Education. The new school building stands on the top of a hill overlooking Yung Shui Wan,
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