§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the acreage of Crown land in Hong Kong; how many acres in total are leased to private individuals or corporate bodies; and if he will name the 10 major leaseholders and state the date when they first took the lease.
§ Mr. Anthony RoyleThe latest available figures show a total area of Crown land of 255,040 acres, of which 46,295.86 acres are leased to private individuals or corporate bodies. The land records are not kept in a form which makes it possible to identify the ten major leaseholders without many weeks of work.
§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the Government of Hong Kong leases land through one of its own departments dealing directly with applicants, or through private property companies.
§ Mr. Anthony RoyleThe Government of Hong Kong leases land through the Crown Lands and Survey Office of the Public Works Department in conjunction with Registrar General's Department, dealing directly with applicants.
§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many leases for land are under current issue by the Government of Hong Kong; what will be the income from these in the current financial year; and how many leases will come up for renewal in 1973.
§ Mr. Anthony RoyleThere is a total of 105,106 leases in Kowloon and the New Territories. It is estimated that the revenue from these leases in the current year will be 10 million Hong Kong dollars. About 5,000 leases will come up for renewal in 1973.
§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will state the total income of the Government of Hong Kong in the last financial year, showing under the neces- 16W sary headings how this income was derived; if he will state the Government's expenditure in total and under various headings for the same period; and how this compares with the past 10 years.
§ Mr. Anthony RoyleThe total income of the Government of Hong Kong in the financial year 1971–72 was Hong Kong dollars 3,541 million or about £253 million. I am writing to the hon. Member about the detailed statistics which are available in the published Hong Kong annual reports, and are too long to be printed.
§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what legislation has been enacted in Hong Kong for the purpose of regulating the affairs of stock exchanges in the colony; and if he will make a statement on future Government action in this matter.
§ Mr. Anthony RoyleAt present stock exchanges in Hong Kong are required to be registered under the Companies Ordinance and there is provision for "recognition" by the Governor in Council if they comply with certain requirements. New legislation is however now in the course of preparation to provide greater legal control over the operations of exchanges and of other bodies which cater for the investing public. One Bill, dealing with prospectuses, is already before the Legislative Council, and others which will cover respectively dealings in securities, unit trusts, mutual funds and takeover bids are expected to be introduced in the course of the coming months. The Securities Bill will effectively provide for the restriction of the numbers of exchanges to those already operating.
§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what are the current or projected capital projects to solve the water supply problem in Hong Kong.
§ Mr. Anthony RoyleThe following are the major approved projects already under construction:
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Project Cost Hong Kong Dollars Million Increase to yield of system in million gallons per day Raising Plover Cove Dams 200 17 Desalters 460 42 High Island 1,348 72 The addition of these projects to the present system should enable the Hong Kong Government to meet demand until the 1980s. Increases to the desalting capacity to meet demand thereafter are already being considered.
§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many trade unionists are presently serving on legislative bodies within Hong Kong; and if he will list the bodies concerned, and the total number of members of each, indicating the trade unionists serving on each.
Mr. Anthony BoyleNo trade unionists presently serve on the Executive, Legislative or urban councils, the three main legislative bodies in Hong Kong. However, Hong Kong is run by a complex pattern of boards, councils and committees. Those concerned with industrial employees have trade unionist members as well as representatives of Government, management, academic and professional interest. Details of these bodies are as follows:
Total Membership Trade Unionists Labour Advisory Board 9 4 Industrial Training Advisory Committee 22 4 Hong Kong Productivity Council 19 4
§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many cases of suicide were reported in Hong Kong in each of the past 12 years; and how many suicides were from the Chinese population in each of the stated years.
Mr. Anthony BoyleFollowing are the figures of reported cases for each year from 1961 onwards. The last figure is for the period from January to end-September, 1972: 336, 362, 370, 363, 301, 351, 388, 455, 330, 540, 388, 232. Statistics by race are not maintained, but very few would be other than Chinese.
§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many cases of murder, robbery with violence, and rape have been committed in Hong Kong in each year in the period 1960 to 1971 and in the first nine months of this year.
Mr. Anthony BoyleFollowing are the figures of reported cases for each year from 1960 onwards. The last figure18W under each heading is for the period from January to the end of September, 1972:
- Murder (including manslaughter)—30, 25, 20, 25, 42, 33, 40, 73, 50, 55, 71, 98, 99, 89.
- Robbery with violence—89, 114, 130, 153, 230, 380, 520, 1,224, 1,801 2,327, 3,006, 5,146, 5,059.
- Rape—2, 1, 4, 3, 2, 5, 12, 13, 10, 31, 28, 45, 49.