-passageways, staircases, latrines, washing spaces and bathrooms- and also of the courtyards. As there are only three sanitation labourers for each block it is clear that if the public spaces and courtyards are to be kept clean the new settlers must quickly learn to discard any slovenly or insanitary habits which they acquired in the squatter areas. From the 1st November, 1957, the Resettlement Department took over from the Urban Services Department the responsibility for all scavenging work within the boundaries of the estates. This meant that, in addition to dealing with the public spaces and courtyards within the blocks, the Resettlement Labourers had also to clean all the spaces between the blocks as well as open spaces and streets which lay entirely within resettlement estates. As a result of the increasing extent and importance of sanitation work one Area Officer in each of the larger estates is now almost wholly occupied with the overall supervision of the sanitation labour force and the control of stores.
70. Simple rules of hygiene are the first lessons the Area Officer must endeavour to teach but there is much more that the new settler must learn; why, for example, it is important to pay his rent on the due date; why he must not engage in any occupation in his room which would cause a nuisance to his neighbours or which is contrary to the laws of the Colony; and the fact that the law requires a licence to be obtained for certain trades and businesses. Another side of the Area Officer's work is the settling of disputes, in particular disputes between two small families who may have to share the same room. In carrying out these diverse duties he must win the co-operation and respect of the large number of settlers who must be trained to become good tenants of Government and good citizens of Hong Kong. This is no light task and calls for the patient exercise of imagination and tact, as well as firmness and perseverance.
71. In the domestic rooms on the upper floors settlers are allowed to engage in cottage industries, mainly rattan and embroidery work, most of which is piece work done for firms operating in other parts of the Colony; while many trades and businesses which are unsuitable for the upper floors can be accommodated in the ground floor bays for which a higher rent is charged. The number and variety of these ground floor businesses increased considerably during the year and on 31st March, 1958, there were 931 shops and 265 workshops; 101 of the shops were licensed restaurants or cafes, sixty three were licensed to
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}