ENG-1950 — Page 106

Crushed stone is produced at two Government quarries and tarmacadam at a third. During the year the tarmacadam plant was converted to electrical operation resulting in a 30% increase of production. The reconstruction of sections of the main streets in the centre of the city was completed and the resurfacing of side streets continued. Queen's Road Central, between Pedder Street and Ice House Street, was raised to new levels and reconstructed in vibrated unreinforced concrete. In Kowloon the major reconstruction of bus routes was continued and an extensive programme of street repairs in residential districts completed. The number still remaining to be reconstructed is considerable, particularly in the Shamshuipo and Tai Kok Tsui districts.

The Lam Tsuen valley road, begun in 1949, was completed during the year and provides a direct link between Taipo and Kam Tin, via Sek Kong. Another new road through the hills from Sek Kong to Fanling was well advanced at the end of the year and work had started on a third from Tsun Wan to Sek Kong. When this network is completed communications in the New Territories will be greatly improved and access between the major centres of the rural popula- tion simplified, while the strain imposed by the dense traffic on the circular route round the Territories should be relieved.

The Post Office

With the maintenance of an inflated population, the volume of mail continued at a high level. Every expedient has been adopted to reduce handling and transmission time. Electrically operated stamp cancelling machines were installed in the General Post Office, Victoria and Central Post Office, Kowloon. 841 new Post Office boxes were installed. Direct despatches were inaugurated to Cuba, Jamaica, Mexico and Peru. Other postal administrations were requested to separate their mails for Hong Kong and Kowloon. Notwithstanding these measures, the volume of mail dealt with is still far beyond the facilities available to deal with it effectively. Minor structural alterations in the General Post Office are planned to improve working conditions for the staff.

The difficult situation with regard to the exchange of mails with China still continues. There were no sea-mails to Shanghai or Tientsin, mail to China being confined to the rail route from Kowloon to Canton. Throughout the year mail sent by this route has had to be transferred by hand at the Chinese frontier to trains operating on the Chinese section of the railway and vice versa, thus restricting the amount that can be exchanged.

The B.O.A.C. strike in the latter part of the year appeared at one time likely to dislocate Christmas traffic but in the event fast and frequent services were maintained to all points by foreign air carriers.

The number of bags of overseas mail posted or delivered in Hong Kong was 257,883, an increase of 21,466 bags over the 1949 figure. Much of this increase however was due to the fact that a considerable amount of mail was posted to correspondents in Hong Kong for reposting to China and this situation is reflected in the decrease of 39,782 bags of transit mail, 56,371 bags being handled in 1950.

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