ENG-1962 — Page 413

CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION

349

by the Solicitor General, Principal Crown Counsel and Crown Counsel.

The Secretary for Chinese Affairs is the Governor's principal adviser on all matters connected with the Chinese population. He is also specifically charged with the responsibility of main- taining direct channels of communication between Government and all levels of Chinese society in urban Hong Kong. In addition, with the assistance of his department, the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs, he discharges a number of statutory duties including the chairmanship of certain boards and committees (which are for the most part Chinese in composition), administration of the District Watch Force and Tenancy Inquiry Bureaux, and a variety of licensing and registration duties. Other traditional responsibili- ties include those of arbitration in domestic or tenancy disputes, and the provision of his good offices should there be any major misunderstanding between another department and some section of the Chinese public on other than purely professional or technical matters. He also has the important duty of providing direct liaison with villagers in semi-rural areas on Hong Kong Island and in New Kowloon. The Secretary for Chinese Affairs is responsible for the co-ordination of the policy by which the executive departments (the Police Force, the Preventive Service, etc) work in their war against drug trafficking and drug addiction, and in the rehabilitation of addicts.

The Social Welfare Department has six sections responsible for child welfare (including care and protection of children, guardian- ship, adoption and liaison with institutions); youth welfare (group work for young people); community development; the welfare of women and girls (moral welfare); special welfare services (for the physically and mentally handicapped); relief and public assistance; and probation (including institutions for delinquents). The department maintains close co-operation with the Council of Social Service and with the many voluntary agencies which under- take welfare work in Hong Kong.

Under the Financial Secretary, the accounting operations of Government are managed and supervised by the Accountant General, who is in charge of the Treasury. The audit of all public accounts and of certain special funds is carried out by the Director of Audit under the general supervision of the Director General