the less true to say that the living conditions in a small cottage on a hillside terrace are better than those in a room of a similar size in a seven-storey building. The problems arising from overcrowding are therefore less serious.
99. The Area Officer will however have a much larger area of land for which he is responsible and in which the paths, steps and drainage channels must be kept clean and in a safe condition. The physical maintenance of these cottage areas and their protection against rainstorm damage and erosion is in fact one of the biggest difficulties.
100. In the summer of 1955 the rainstorm damage in cottage areas was serious and cost nearly $120,000 to put right. A large part of this damage was in the Homantin King's Park area which is particularly difficult to maintain as it consists of decomposed granite hills the most striking feature of which is the number and depth of the erosion gullies. Because of this heavy damage an extensive programme of rainstorm protection and anti-erosion work was carried out in this area during the succeeding dry winter months by the Construction Unit of the department. 87,952 running feet of drainage channels and nullahs were constructed while the total volume of new retaining walls and dams amounted to no less than 67,239 cubic feet. The completion of this programme should result in an appreciable reduction in rainstorm damage in the future.
The
101. Further damage was caused by fires in the older wooden hut sections of the Homantin and Chai Wan areas. risk of fires in wooden hut sections of the cottage areas cannot be eliminated but fire lanes have been cleared in these sections to reduce the size of any fire which might break out, and the staff have received training in fire-fighting techniques. In some areas Kaifong Associations provide enthusiastic members for local fire-fighting teams.
102. In September, 1955 an estimate was made of the annual recurrent costs of administering and maintaining the cottage areas and the figure worked out at about $1 million as against an estimated annual revenue from quarterly permit fees of rather less than $500,000. Because of this large gap between
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