ENG-1963 — Page 316

PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES

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and Tsuen Wan in the New Territories-continued throughout the year. The Kwun Tong scheme is now nearing completion, a total of 529 acres, including 253 acres of reclamation, having been formed out of a planned figure of 588 acres. The present popula- tion of the area is 110,000 and 142 factories have been established. To meet the continuing demand for industrial land in this locality a further reclamation involving about 546 acres of Kowloon Bay is being investigated. It is expected that this scheme which will take about eight years to complete, will provide some 350 acres for light industrial and open storage purposes. At Tsuen Wan the main contract to provide 255 acres of hillside terraces and reclama- tion at a cost of about $60 million was put in hand by consulting engineers. This contract and others being carried out by the Public Works Department produced a total of 72 acres during the year.

A total of 80 acres have so far been formed of the 96 acres planned in Kowloon for a military hospital at King's Park, for low-cost housing at Valley Road and high class housing and schools at Ho Man Tin and Waterloo Road Hill. Other major site formation schemes are in hand or planned to produce 200 acres of land for residential, institutional, Government and com- munity use along the Lung Cheung Road.

Local Public Works in the New Territories. The New Territories Administration supplies building materials and encourages villagers to use their own labour on village works which are too small for the Government's public works programme. Where villages cannot supply or hire labour from their own resources, District Officers may let contracts for the entire 'work. The New Territories engi- neering unit, under the supervision of an engineer seconded from the Public Works Department, handles works up to $50,000 and also gives advice to District Officers on smaller works. This self- help scheme has grown considerably in recent years and $2 million was provided for it in the financial year 1963-4.

During 1963 villagers completed many projects such as foot- paths, van tracks, drainage channels, river bunds and dams, wells, bridges and playgrounds. In recent years nearly every village where it was feasible has been supplied with piped domestic water from unpolluted hill streams, and during the past five years 179 miles of water piping have been supplied for this purpose. Top priority is now being given to sanitation works. During the financial year