because of its implications for the future. A fuller account will be found in the following chapters.
5. At the end of March 1964, the authorized population of the resettle- ment estates was 544,155, an increase of some 81,500 over the year. Of these, 63,300 had been resettled as a result of clearance operations (including some 6,000 from cottage areas to estates), while the balance was made up of births, other additions to households, and around 2,000 special cases, mostly welfare allocations. In addition, the resettlement cottage areas housed 82,899 authorized persons, making a total of 627,054 authorized persons living in resettlement accommodation. On top of this, it is estimated that 48,000 unauthorized people were living in estates and cottage areas, many of them additional family members who are tolerated in the domestic rooms although they exacerbate the already overcrowded conditions. Between them the actual population of estates and cottage areas was therefore in the neighbourhood of 675,000 persons --not far short of one-fifth of the Colony's population.
6. Construction work continued at a high level, 34 new domestic resettlement blocks being completed by the Public Works Department during the year. By the end of March 1964 the total number of domestic blocks was 247, in addition to one single-storey and 11 multi-storey factory blocks. New estates, in various stages of site formation or con- struction, included two sites at Aberdeen; at Sau Mau Ping and Ham Tin near Kwun Tong, and at Yau Tong Bay further east; at Tsz Wan Shan up the Sha Tin Pass Road and at Kwai Chung near Tsuen Wan. In addition, extensions to existing estates at Chai Wan and Tung Tau were under way. All these will provide accommodation for over 600,000 people within the next three or four years. Further sites were still being planned by the Public Works Department which is responsible for select- ing and developing them. Quantity, however, has not been the only consideration: a new design of domestic block known as the Mark III made its appearance during the year at Kwai Chung. This type (where the rents are higher than in the older types) has improved facilities and a better finish approaching the standards set in the Government Low Cost Housing Estates. This design, and a variation of it rising to 16-storeys (Mark IV), will be standard in all new estates and extensions to existing
oncs.
7. Notwithstanding the rate of building and resettlement, it became clear during the year that in spite of their best efforts, the squatter control staff were unable to contain new squatting. The factors which lead to squatting have already been mentioned. The Squatter Control Division
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