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which have been erected at Tsat Tse Mui are large and substantial. The size of the hut space granted there was dependent upon the size of the squatter family. It is recommended that in future only plots of a standard size should be granted although Health Officers might be given discretion to grant exceptionally large families larger areas on pieces of ground which are too small for two standard plots but larger than standard.
6. The Committee has considered the possibility of reintroducing hutted camps built and run by Government but does not favour the provision of such facilities. The present day expense of erection of new hutted camps would be extremely heavy, the cost of supervisory staff high and it would be extremely difficult to get the inmates out once they were installed. Unless the sites for such Government camps were within the urban area, where the inmates could find work, it might be necessary for Govern- ment to provide food and transport as well as shelter and supervision. A short term policy of licensed squatting areas is considered to be infinitely preferable. A recent experiment of this kind at Tsat Tse Mui has proved very successful. In recommend- ing that Government should not itself provide camps, the Committee realises that cir- cumstances might arise where there was no alternative but to build such camps. A large influx of destitute refugees caused by widespread civil war near the border might force us to provide food and shelter in the New Territories, as was done in 1938, but while conditions remain as they are at present, the Committee is against such action, except in an emergency.
7. A short term policy of gradual attrition followed up by measures to ensure that sites once cleared are kept cleared offers the best hope of success. The Committee proposes that Government should alienate land at the eastern and western extremities of the urban areas both of the Island and Kowloon and that where a squatter area is cleared, squatters should be given the chance to move to one of these approved sites. The areas provisionally selected are on the lower northern slopes of Mount Davis for squatters in the central and western areas of Hong Kong and at Tsat Tse Mui for those in the eastern area. Sites at Ngau Tau Kok and Lai Chi Kok are similarly recom- mended for Kowloon. It is important from a public health point of view that squatters should be removed from the central urban areas but it would be unrealistic to offer them sites in inaccessible parts of the Island from which they would be unable to go to work. It is only a short walk from the Mount Davis site, for example, to the tram terminus in Kennedy Town and an artisan who is forced to squat because he cannot find proper accommodation could easily get in from Mount Davis to his place of work either by tram or on foot. Tsat Tee Mui is similarly accessible by tram. The sites at Lai Chi Kok and Ngau Tau Kok are also reasonably close to bus routes.
8. The Committee realises that only a proportion of the squatters can be rehoused in these sites. Experience at Mount Parish has shown that when an area is cleared, some of the squatters go into normal accommodation, others move elsewhere, some residents who have ties and work in the Colony take advantage of the offer of a new site.
If a squatter family is cleared off one site and then moves on to another illegal sites from which it is moved again a few weeks later, its members will realise that they must either find proper accommodation, go to a Government site or leave- the Colony. Some will be absorbed into new buildings which are now being completed. Gradual clearance has a reasonable chance of success. A single concerted drive on all squatter settlements at once would create political and economic problems of a serious kind.
9. If a policy of attrition is accepted, it must be followed up by action to ensure that sites which have been cleared are kept cleared. This can best be done by the creation of squatter patrols which would form the nucleus of the squads undertaking clearance operations and would in addition patrol cleared sites, prevent the re-erection of shacks and report on attempts by squatters to start new squatter colonies. It is suggested that two such squads should be formed-one in Hong Kong and one in Kowloon and that they should each be under the control of a Health Inspector. They would consist of a Health Inspector with six scavenging coolies and the Police would be asked to attach two or three constables to each squad. Each squad would require a lorry in order to remove materials. Large scale clearing operations would require more staff and would be directed by Health Officers who would work in conjunction with