ENG-1968 — Page 383

CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION

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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 223,173 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 61,173, are administered from the District Office South at Kowloon Central Post Office Building, Nathan Road, Kowloon.

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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 94. 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 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 range of other minor works to improve the sanitation and the amenities of the villages.

For local representation, each of the 654 villages in the New Territories has one or more Village Representatives, making a total of about 948. Villages are in turn grouped under Rural Com- mittees, of which there are 27 covering the entire New Territories. Each Rural Committee has an executive committee which is elected by secret ballot every two years by all Village Representatives. The Rural Committees execute minor works and carry out certain tasks on behalf of the Government. They receive a small monthly subvention to cover routine expenses. Within its own area each Rural Committee acts as the spokesman for local public opinion,