ENG-1973 — Page 190

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Public Works and Utilities

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EXPENDITURE on public works continues to be the government's greatest single financial commitment. The programme includes the formation and reclamation of land and the construction of all types of public buildings, as well as the provision of roads, sewers, piers and reservoirs.

Capital expenditure for the financial year 1973-4 is estimated at $1,050 million, or about 23 per cent of total government expenditure. Of this sum, $102 million is to be spent on public housing, $144 million on roads and $341 million on water supplies.

Water Supplies

In 1973, as in the previous five years, Hong Kong enjoyed a continuous water supply, but as the growth in demand showed no sign of decreasing, the risk of having to impose restrictions continues to pose a threat-but not an immediate one.

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The storage position was better than the previous year-there were 40,613 million gallons in storage on January 1, 1973, compared with 35,205 million gallons on January 1, 1972. As in the previous year early rains soon improved the position, and heavy rains during August and September caused all reservoirs to overflow. The rainfall was the highest on record, a total of 122.06 inches. After the heavy rainfall and the increase in reservoir capacity with the completion of works to raise the level of the Plover Cove dams, Hong Kong had 65,513 million gallons in storage on October 1, 1973, compared with 51,032 million gallons on October 1, 1972.

There was a total of 27,421 million gallons of water in Plover Cove on January 1, 1973 and the inflow during the summer months reduced the salinity of the water there from 170 parts per million to 114 parts per million by the end of the year. The quality of the stored water remained satisfactory throughout the year.

In accordance with a further agreement reached in November 1972 with the People's Council of Kwangtung Province, the supply from the Shum Chun Reservoir was increased by 3,500 million gallons a year-in future Hong Kong will receive 18,500 million gallons a year. The supply period was also extended-the new supply 'year' being from October 1 to August 10. During the current supply period 18,765 million gallons were delivered.

Demand for water rose steadily, and a new peak of 257.1 million gallons a day was reached, an increase of 9.5 per cent over the 1972 peak. The average consumption throughout the year was 215.84 million gallons per day, an increase of 10.1 per cent