Division, a task which often calls for careful planning to make the best use of the limited space available. This was particularly apparent after the fire at Model Village, Kowloon Tong, in October 1958, in which 1,700 people were made homeless. The fire area was marked out in orderly sites so that it was possible to rehouse all those who had formerly been living there and at the same time to provide adequate fire lanes. In its present state Model Village could well be considered an appropriate name.
114. This was the biggest fire of the year; there were also major fires at Tai Kok Tsui and Shek Kip Mei Village, in each of which more than 800 people were made homeless. There were in all twenty nine squatter fires during the year involving a total of 6,010 people. In every case the squatters affected were allowed to rebuild their huts on the fire site itself or on Crown land in the vicinity, but some 500 victims of the Tai Kok Tsui fire, for whom there was not enough space on the fire site, had to be given sites on the streets nearby.
115. Eleven fires involved squatter structures on the rooftops of tenement buildings. In these cases and in cases where the building is demolished for redevelopment the squatters affected are offered tem- porary alternative sites at the Cheung Sha Wan reclamation in an area reserved for this purpose. During the year a total of 2,550 persons were allocated sites under this arrangement.
116. There is not always sufficient accommodation immediately available in the resettlement areas or estates to offer to squatters occupying land urgently required for development and in these cases it is sometimes possible to provide alternative sites on which the squatters may rebuild their huts. These 're-sites' are prepared in the vicinity, under the supervision of the officers of this Division, and are then allocated to the squatters who are permitted to rebuild their structures to the same dimensions as those they had previously occupied. During the year a total of 695 structures were moved in this way.
117. Other duties of the officers of this Division include the approval and supervision of repairs to squatter huts, the eviction of unauthorized persons from resettlement estates or from areas which have been screened for resettlement, and the demolition of structures and removal of crops from areas which are being cleared.
118. Regular helicopter flights are now made once a quarter by officers of the Department to check by personal observation and by
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