UILDING in the International Settlement this year is showing a definite increase over last year, according to official figures made available by the Public Works Department. By the end of this month, it is expected, the: number of new constructions the number of building permits issued by the Department both will exceed by a comfortable margin the corresponding figures for 1937. This recovery is the more remarkable in view of the more or less unsettled condition: 3 which followed last year's hostilities.
In a measure, of course, the renewed building reflects what might be termed' "post-war reconstruction."
'The {otal number of new constrcwang or wih emi were ned by' the Public Works Department.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.