ENG-1968 — Page 381

CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION

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resemble to some extent the District Officers in the New Territories, though at present they do not perform any executive functions. They are required to make themselves as accessible as possible to those living in their districts and to keep in touch with all local organizations. In addition they are responsible for assessing the impact of government policies on the general population, and for explaining these policies to the public. They also advise other government departments on the co-ordination of public services, and are expected to be aware of the problems and trends of public opinion in their districts. The urban area has been divided into ten City Districts, four on Hong Kong Island and six in Kowloon and New Kowloon. The first four City District Officers were appointed in May, and by the end of the year nine had taken up their duties. In order to emphasize their accessibility they are being housed in offices located and designed to look more like shops than government offices. At the end of the year five such offices had been opened complete with shop windows displaying govern- ment activities and counters providing a public enquiry service.

The Secretary for Chinese Affairs is also responsible for co- ordinating the drive against narcotics; he is assisted in this by a strongly constituted Narcotics Advisory Committee, and by the Action Committee against Narcotics, which provides for the ex- change of information and opinions, and for co-ordination at the operational level of the activities of the government departments and voluntary organizations engaged in anti-narcotics work.

As a member of the Urban Council and the Housing Board, the Secretary for Chinese Affairs is concerned with housing problems, and the two tenancy enquiry bureaux, which form part of his department, provide mediation and advisory services to tenants of the pre-war buildings which are subject to the Landlord and Tenant Ordinance.

Other administrative functions include special responsibility for the old village communities in New Kowloon and the semi-rural areas of Hong Kong Island, investigation into claims to British nationality and applications for naturalization, registration of newspapers, Chinese cemeteries, mediation in a variety of domestic and other disputes, and the administration of a number of trust funds for educational and welfare purposes.