ENG-1960 — Page 30

REVIEW

•

17

the design of these works is remarkable, and when the engineers came with their cement and modern equipment to improve the system it was seldom necessary to make any major change in the layout. But these old irrigation systems were inefficient. The dams leaked and much water seeped away underneath; they were liable to be swept away by heavy spates, and silt escaped from the streams and covered the fields. The channels themselves became overgrown and choked with vegetation and silt, and regular annual maintenance was essential.

Great improvements in traditional irrigation are possible with the use of concrete dams which eliminate leaks and greatly reduce the loss by seepage: they are not washed away in heavy rain, and maintenance is reduced to a minimum. Concrete lining of the irrigation channels also means better supplies in drought and less maintenance. Projects of this nature are beyond the means of the villagers to tackle unaided, but after the war Government started to assist them by supplying cement and other materials free of charge. The scheme, known as the Local Public Works scheme, began on modest lines. By 1954 it was found that the Government appropriation, which had varied between $18,000 and $40,000 annually since the war, was insufficient and the Kadoorie Agricul- tural Aid Association decided to expand its work in this field. For five years grants by the Association more than matched those of the Government, although funds from the latter source had increased steadily to $170,000 in 1958-9. In the last two financial years, the Government contribution has been $1 million a year and the Association has felt able to withdraw from these works and concentrate on other schemes of agricultural assistance.

It was found that some of the most necessary irrigation improve- ments were beyond the capabilities of the villagers, even when assisted with the grant of materials, and Government applied for aid from the Colonial Development and Welfare fund. Between 1953 and 1956 $800,000 from this source was spent on re- constructing 56 diversion dams and 42,000 feet of channelling. Government has subsequently spent about $4 million out of revenue on works of the same kind. Since the war, then, a total of 579 dams and over 220,000 feet of channelling have been re- paired or reconstructed as Local Public Works schemes, with

Page 30Page 31