TNAG-0620-FCO40-768-Annual-accounts-of-Hong-Kong-Government-for-year-ending-1976-1977 — Page 3

Au. F. 9A

2300011

100-9/70-B86763

BY AIR BAG

No. (40) in 5/3/75-76

LAST PAPER

T. Duffy Esq.,

Hong Kong Department,

Foreign & Commonwealth Office, LONDON SW1A 2AH.

Your ref. HKK 100/1 of 8.3.77

PLA

3

AUDIT DEPARTMENT,

GOVERNMENT OFFICES.

LOWER ALBERT ROAD.

HONG KONG.

22nd March, 1977.

Dear

2.

3

子

HKK 100/1

Annual Report for the year ended 31st March, 1976

Thank you for your letter of 8th March, 1977.

Shortly after the completion of my report the Secretary for the New Territories did in fact advise District Offices that the assistance of the Director of Agriculture and Fisheries was available and should be sought in cases where difficulties were expected due to the large areas of pine trees to be counted, the ratio of large and small trees in a particular area to be assessed, and in the determination of the method to be used in the count. The full extent to which A.F.D. assistance should be invoked is still under correspondence. The questions being considered include the desirability of confirmatory reference not only in the circumstances to which you refer, but also in cases in which the number of trees assessed for a given area exceeds that computed in accordance with standard planting distances.

3.

Whilst cases may continue to come to notice in audit in which overassessments have occurred before the revised instructions were issued by the Secretary for the New Territories, I am hopeful that those instructions, if properly followed, will assist in preventing future overpayments of the kind referred to in paragraph 53 of my report.

し

Iven byth

(G.E. Lyth)

Director of Audit

(4)