MARINE DEPARTMENT LIBRARY
and which was at the root of the very housing shortage which had caused the squatter problem, they pointed out that squatters were in occupation of almost all the Crown land which could otherwise be readily made available for immediate development; in the worst areas they were massed in incredible squalor, at a density of perhaps 2,000 to the acre, in buildings and shacks which were mostly of single storey construction. Resettlement · in any form of cottage or hut-type structure could only result in the sterilization of twice or three times the amount of land already occupied. Apart from the obvious undesirability of this the requisite land simply did not exist within reasonable reach of the centres of employment. Why then, they said, should not the squatters be rehoused at a similar or greater density per acre but in hygienic multi-storey buildings equipped with filtered water supply and main drainage, served by proper roads and giving access to reasonable open spaces? In any case what alternative was there? Considerable point was added to this argument when it was calculated that a permanent six-storey building capable of housing well over 2,000 persons could be built for the amount which was being spent every fortnight, during the spring of 1954, on supplying free food to the victims of the Shek Kip Mei fire.
38. As has been seen these arguments prevailed, the pro- posal to build eight experimental buildings at Shek Kip Mei was approved, and questions of detailed design were urgently examined in the Public Works Department, during the spring of 1954. The basic design chosen was a six-storey block, H-shaped in plan. The long arms of the H consist on each floor of sixty four rooms and the cross-piece contains two water stand-pipes, six communal flush latrines and a communal open space for washing clothes. Each room is of 120 square feet and access is by a balcony which runs completely round each long arm of the H. There are four staircases, one at each corner of the building. It was finally decided that the average density of resettlement should be five adults to a room, a child of ten years or under counting as half an adult, so that a
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