ENG-1967 — Page 356

CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION

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are chaired by unofficial members and, without exception, the unofficial members are in the majority.

The membership of the Urban Council is given in Appendix XLIV. The responsibilities of the Urban Council, which are carried out through the Urban Services Department, cover the fields of environmental hygiene, sanitation and public parks and amenities in the urban areas. The Council is also the competent authority for the management of resettlement areas and estates in the urban area.

NEW TERRITORIES ADMINISTRATION

The New Territories are divided into four administrative districts, each under a District Officer who has a staff of between 106 and 204, depending on the size and complexity of the district. The Tai Po District, with an area of 123 square miles and a population estimated at 283,000, 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 about 234,000, includes the large and heavily populated agricultural plain in the north-west and has its District Office at Yuen Long. The-Tsuen Wan District has an area of 26 square miles and a population of about 237,000 covering the new industrial complex of Tsuen Wan, Kwai Chung and Tsing Yi Island, as well as Ma Wan Island and the north-eastern part of Lantau Island. Its District Office is accom- modated in the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank Building in Tsuen Wan. The Sai Kung area east of Kai Tak Airport, the remainder of Lantau Island, Cheung Chau, Lamma Island and all the islands to the west and south of Hong Kong, covering some 130 square miles, with a scattered population of about 123,000, are administered from the District Office South at Gascoigne Road, Kowloon.

The District Commissioner co-ordinates the overall administra- tion 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 97. The District Officers are concerned with every aspect of government activity in their districts and act as the principal links between the government and the local inhabitants. Their responsibilities include mediation in all kinds of village and personal disputes, including