ENG-1966 — Page 220

PUBLIC ORDER

161

improvisation of telephone communications by a field telephone network. To counteract the effects of communication failures, fire appliances patrolled all potentially dangerous areas and were in- strumental in bringing prompt succour and relief to persons in distress or peril. The service was subjected to considerable pressure and resources were stretched to breaking point. In answer to requests for assistance, and despite extensive damage to roads and communi- cations, all members of the Auxiliary Fire Service who were called out for duty promptly reported to their fire stations, as did numerous off-duty professional officers and men. The Civil Aid Services, Auxiliary Medical Service and the Hong Kong Regiment also contributed greatly to the success of rescue operations. The storm inflicted considerable damage to Fire Service plant and equipment which, until rehabilitation was completed, greatly reduced the operational capability of the service.

The service now has 216 operational vehicles in commission and an establishment of 2,493 officers and firemen. Although the total direct fire loss for the year 1965–6 increased from $2.77 per capita to $2.86 per capita, giving no room for complacency, the figure compares very favourably with those which obtain elsewhere in the world (Fire losses in Britain for 1965 were $22.61 per capita). The service is now linked with a thriving branch of the Institution of Fire Engineers, which is probably the largest in the world out- side Britain.

||

THE PREVENTIVE SERVICE

The Preventive Service of the Commerce and Industry Department is a disciplined force responsible for the anti-smuggling measures which are needed to protect the revenue derived from the five items which are dutiable in Hong Kong. It is also responsible for the excise controls required in respect of the manufacture or distribution of these dutiable items within the Colony.

The service is responsible for suppressing the illicit import and export of narcotics by land, sea and air, and approximately one- third of its total strength is engaged on this work. Liaison is main- tained with the Narcotics Bureau on all aspects of narcotics suppres- sion. All vessels arriving in Hong Kong from ports where drugs are suspected of being smuggled are boarded and searched by