ENG-1964 — Page 315

CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION

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NEW TERRITORIES ADMINISTRATION

The New Territories are divided into four administrative districts, each under a District Officer who has a staff of between 100 and 180, depending on the size of the district. The Tai Po District with an area of 123 square miles and a population of some 200,000 covers the north-east of the New Territories with its District Office at Tai Po Market. The Yuen Long District with an area of 86 square miles and a population of some 200,000 includes the large flat agricultural plain in the north-west, and has its District Office at Ping Shan. The Tsuen Wan District has an area of 26 square miles and a population of 160,000 and includes the rapidly growing industrial complex of Tsuen Wan, Kwai Chung and Tsing Yi Island, as well as Ma Wan Island and the northern tip of Lantau Island; its District Office is in Tsuen Wan itself. The Sai Kung area east of Kai Tak airport, the remainder of Lantau Island, Cheung Chau, Lamma and all the other islands to the west and south of Hong Kong covering some 130 square miles with a scattered population of about 65,000 are administered from the District Office South in Kowloon.

A District Commissioner co-ordinates the overall administration of the New Territories from an office in North Kowloon. He is assisted by a Deputy District Commissioner and a headquarters staff which, including the Cadastral Survey staff, totals 109.

The District Officers are concerned with every aspect of govern- ment activity in their districts and act as the principal links between Government and the local inhabitants. Their responsibilities include arbitration in all kinds of village and personal disputes, including family and matrimonial cases. They control the utilization and sale of Crown land, and administer the grant of temporary structure permits. District Officers have an allocation of funds from the New Territories local public works vote, which pays for materials to help villagers improve irrigation and water supplies, build paths and small bridges and carry out a wide variety of other minor works to improve the amenities of the villages.

For local representation each of the 625 villages in the New Territories has one or more village representatives making a total of about 900. Villages are in turn grouped under Rural Committees, of which there are 27 covering the entire New Territories. Each Rural Committee has an executive committee which is usually

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