was paid to the 157 cultivators involved. Of the 308 families who were moved, 102 preferred to rebuild their homes in the vicinity of Kwun Tong, where they could continue to cultivate land not involved in the clearances for the new estate, or could earn their livelihood as pig- breeders. The remaining families were resettled in Wong Tai Sin Estate or in new stone cottages in the nearby Ngau Tau Kok Resettlement Area. They have all been given the option of returning to Kwun Tong when accommodation in that estate is available.
40. Six clearances were undertaken to clear land required for exten- sions to existing estates. Two of these, in September 1958 and January 1959, were to clear the sites of the last eight blocks of Wong Tai Sin Estate. Clearances for this estate began in June 1957, and were under- taken in twenty eight phases, in accordance with a programme planned to suit the construction requirements of the Public Works Department. For the total twenty five blocks of the estate, 891 structures in all were cleared and the 11,850 persons who occupied them were resettled. The squatters cleared in the first phase were given accommodation at Lo Fu Ngam Estate, while all the families cleared in subsequent operations were resettled at Wong Tai Sin Estate itself. The total area cleared was 32.62 acres. 12.89 acres were under cultivation and for this area $413,032.56 was paid as ex-gratia compensation to the 230 cultivators involved.
41. 485 squatter structures, which were on the site of four resettle- ment blocks planned as an extension to Lo Fu Ngam Estate, were cleared in two operations and the 5,374 persons who occupied them
· were resettled.
42. The last two operations were to clear the sites for extensions to Li Cheng Uk and Shek Kip Mei Estates.
43. Eleven operations were undertaken during the year to clear land for housing schemes. On the Island, a part of the large site at Shau Kei Wan reserved for the Hong Kong Housing Society was cleared to enable construction work to begin, and sites on S.I.L. 618 and S.I.L. 626 at Shau Kei Wan Road were cleared for private housing development. Nine sites in Shau Kei Wan were cleared for local officers' housing co-operative schemes and in this operation a total of 1,840 persons living in 161 structures were cleared and resettled in the first block of Chai Wan Estate. In Kowloon, a further part of the site for the Housing Authority's So Uk Estate was cleared, while at Willow Street, Tai Kok Tsui, a site was cleared for the Hong Kong and Yaumati Ferry Co., Ltd. for staff quarters. In Lancashire Road, Kowloon Tong, and Sycamore
12
X