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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. HU:-I think this time we will clear in three months.
MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, that is the backlog, I am talking about another backlog that was building up over the following years.
MR. HU:-I do not think there will be any backlog because we haven't used all the compassionate quarters yet. We tried to lower the standard for the allocation of resettlement rooms on compassionate grounds, so I think in future this question can probably be settled.
MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, if we are going to lower the criteria and give more rooms on compassionate grounds, wouldn't that increase the backlog?
MR. HU-I think Mrs. ELLIOTT did press the question. I do not think there is good cooperation between the various departments. The first inter-departmental meeting, as I have said, after our meeting on 24th February, was a meeting held on the 2nd March, 1970, in which the representatives of the Resettlement Department, Social Welfare Depart- ment, Medical and Health Department discussed the question together. I think I can assure Mrs. ELLIOTT this question will be solved in future.
MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, I am grateful to Mr. Hu, but I am concerned about the compassionate cases waiting so long. Is the Commissioner satisfies that he has enough people working on the cases?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-I am sorry, I didn't quite get the question.
MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, I will repeat the question. I am sorry to trouble the Commissioner when he is not feeling well, but could he clarify whether or not he has enough people working on them, because I was given a hint that it was slowness on the part of the Resettlement Department in dealing with the applications?
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COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-Since you raised the question last month I have put additional staff on the job. We hope to be able to clear the job much quicker. Last year there wasn't any supply of accommodation to begin with, then was a backlog, and then there was not enough people to pay attention to it. But we have put additional staff on to the job and we hope to clear them quicker. The other point was that we still need to have the co-operation of the applicant to solve it quickly.
MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, the Commissioner has raised a point there I would like to ask him about. Is it a fact that if one person refuses his resettlement room because it is not in the place that he wants, everybody is held up waiting for that one person?