As will be recalled, the creation of a new police district was first mentioned in Spring, 1938, when the Japanese authorities were approached with, a view to letting the Council assume complete control over all districts North of the creek. At the time, a high Japanese Embassy official statetl that the districts would be. gradually returned to the complete control of the Council and that the entire area would thus once more be controlled by the SMC. within a period of two or three months from then, which would have meant by the end of summer of last year.
With the outbreak of the cholera epidemic, however, added to which were difficulties which arose during negotiations, no further step in this direction was being undertaken and due to the fact that present conversations are likely to be successful, it is not impossible that within a matter of months, districts North of the creek will again come under the complete control of the S.M.C.
Council officials questioned on the subject yesterday refused to make any statement in this connection. merely emphasizing that no official agreement had as yet been reached on any of the-questions involved.
At the press conference, a spokesman also confirmed that while negotiations were proceeding, nothing de finite had been reached.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.