Post_Office_1950-1951 — Page 20

CONCLUSION-REVIEW.

48. Statistics relating to the various activities of the Department will be found in appendices 1 to 11 attached to this Report. It will be seen that the Department has had to cope with a further increase in the volume of business, and in the Mails, Registration and Parcel Branches, in particular, this has been difficult owing to the restricted accommodation and the fact that a large proportion of the staff, over 50%, has been recruited since 1945. Many employees are not fully experienced, and this makes full efficiency difficult to achieve. Nevertheless, during the year a record amount of mail---some 88 million items-was handled. It must be admitted that, at peak periods of heavy arrivals of sea and air mails, this was accomplished with some difficulty, and at times delays in delivery occurred. It is anticipated, however, that the re-organizations already embarked upon, together with the installation of modern sorting fittings, will result in improved working conditions for the staff, and facilitate the handling of mail. Hong Kong, with its banking, insurance, manufactur- ing, shipping, import and export, and other commercial interests, requires an efficient postal service. To enable that service to be achieved the best possible use is being made of existing buildings, but the levels of postal traffic already reached indicate that consideration will require to be given, at an early date, to the provision of modern Post Office buildings, both in Kowloon and in Victoria. In determining the position of these buildings regard will, of course, have to be paid to postal traffic require- ments and to the reclamation and town planning schemes already under consideration by Government.

21st June, 1951.

15

M. L. DURRANT, Acting Postmaster General.

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