units of resettlement accommodation in the six-year period 1966-72 at HK$875 per unit would be $569 million, based on January 1967 building costs. At $969 per unit, the cost of building 350,000 units of Government low-cost housing would be HK$341 million.
MILLIONTH PERSON SETTLED
A MILESTONE in Hong Kong Government's resettlement programme was reached last month when the millionth settler moved into the newest multi-storey resettlement estate at Aberdeen.
Of the first million people to be resettled, some 70,000 live in cottage areas and about 930,000 are accommodated in 22 multi-storey estates, all of which have been built in the last 13 years following the great fire at Shek Kip Mei on Christmas night 1953 which made 50,000 squatters homeless.
In 1954, the biggest ressetlement programme ever known was launched by the Government. At the end of September, 1967 more than 922,000 men, women and children were living in resettlement estates and over 72.000 were accommodated in cottage areas giving a grand total of just under 995,000 people living in accommodation administered by the Resettlement Department.
This figure represents a quarter of the colony's total population. They were living in 22 estates, partly or fully occupied, with the biggest at Tsz Wan Shan which now has a population of 113.405. This estate will house
Part of a new resettlement estate at Aberdeen
some 170,000 people when finished. The cost of build- ing resettlement estates and flatted factories from 1954 to March this year totalled just over HK$646 million.
Although a million people have been settled there is still a continuous need for further accommodation in the years to come. Some 400,000 squatters have yet to be resettled while the needs of families living in severely overcrowded conditions in existing resettlement estates have to be met.
HK$25 MILLION HOUSING ESTATE
A NEW multi-million dollar low cost housing estate is to be built by Hong Kong Government in the Cheung Sha Wan district of Kowloon to accommodate some 34,000 people. Work on the estate, which is estimated to cost HK$25 million, is scheduled to begin at the end of this year and should be completed by the middle of 1970.
Eight 15-storey blocks will be constructed on a 13.9 acre site bounded by Un Chau Street on the north, Cheung Sha Wan Road on the south, Hing Wah Street on the west and Wing Lung Street on the east, Unlike the old type low cost housing unit this one will have a frontage of 141⁄2 ft, as compared with 11 ft. previously. thus providing better light, ventilation, cooking and utility facilities.
28
The eight domestic blocks will provide about 5,100
+
Sketch of estate seen from Cheung Sha Wan Road
self-contained room units designed for families of five, seven and nine persons. Each unit will have a private balcony, a cooking bench, individual toilet served by a constant supply of salt water for flushing purposes as well as a fresh water supply for cooking and drinking purposes. The scheme will include three primary schools with a total of 72 classrooms, three kindergartens, two vegetable markets, shops, administrative offices, a fire station and an ambulance depot, about three acres of open space and 170 parking spaces.
The three estate schools will have an estimated 6,480 places for primary students on the assumption that they operate morning and afternoon sessions. Each school building will be six storeys high and will have 24 class- rooms on four floors with another floor confined to special classrooms with administrative accommodation. There will also be a covered playground on the ground floor and an open one on the roof.
This will be the first Government low-cost estate to be built by the "slip-form" technique, of continuous wall casting. Government has granted permission to Concrete Silos Pty. Ltd., to approach contractors on the Govern- ment list with a view to using this technique instead of the usual building methods.
ORDINANCE CHANGE PROPOSED
ARCHIECT graduates from abroad who wish to practice in Singapore must sit for a local professional practice ex- amination if approval is given to à proposal by the Coun- cil of the Singapore Institute of Architects. The coun- cil is seeking to amend the Architects Ordinance.
Mr. Lim Chong Keat, president of the institute, said last month:
"One of the key issues will be the revision of quali- fications for registration, and in this connection, the S.I.A. board of architectural education has been provid- ing and will continue to provide manpower and exper- tise for the conduct of examination and invigilation of professional practice. We feel that there should be a stronger emphasis on knowledge of local practice condi- tions, and that in future graduates from abroad should be required to sit for a local professional practice ex- amination before entitlement for registration.
"As it is now, graduates from the Singapore Poly- technic undergo two years' practical training (similar to that of housemanship for doctors) and then sit for an examination of the Board of Architects, which the S.I.A. has been heiping in setting and marking papers, to be registered.
"This examination is similar to the finals part three examination of the Royal Institute of British Architects.
"Those who have passed the R.I.B.A. finals part three have been exempted from the local examination and registered straight away. Under this system, we have no way of checking whether the foreign graduates have
Far East Architect & Builder November, 1967