wooden huts of one hundred square feet or less built in most cases by the occupiers themselves, and larger ones, sometimes of two or even three storeys, accommodating perhaps fifty or sixty families who rent their small cubicles from a 'squatter landlord', usually an absentee, and who may pay as much as $25 per month for as little as fifty square feet. The substantial houses, of which there are many in the area north of Kai Tak Airport, have been built on agricultural land either by the Crown lessees as a very profitable investment, and rented to fairly well-to-do immi- grants who were unable to find normal accommodation when they arrived in the Colony in the years 1948 - 1950, or have been built by the immi- grants themselves who purchased the land from the former owners.
34. The families living in these areas also vary greatly in their economic and social status and have come from many different parts of China. The Cantonese are usually in the majority but there are also large numbers of Chiuchow speaking persons from the Swatow region and northerners from Shanghai or further north. At one extreme there is a very small minority whose family incomes may exceed $1,000 a month, and who may be employed by the Government or by large firms; at the other there are the families in wooden huts, many of whom have no regular employment and whose average earnings from casual labour or hawking are often less than $100 per month.
35. The first step in the process of clearing a squatter area is a quick preliminary survey which is made in order to determine the ,approximate number of inhabitants and particulars of shops, workshops, factories and cultivation. When these particulars have been obtained the amount of resettlement accommodation required can be calculated in order that a date for the clearance may be fixed.
36. About three months before the clearance date, teams from the Screening Section of the Department make a thorough survey to obtain the necessary information about the genuine residents. This process may be likened to the taking of a census. Every structure is investigated and the particulars recorded on the screening form include the number of persons living in the structure; their names, ages and relationships; identity card numbers; length of residence in the structure and in the Colony; occupations and places of employment; and the average monthly income of the family. If the structure is used for business purposes or as
as a workshop further particulars are needed. This information will also be of value later on when it will be passed to the
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