of the department found itself faced by an ever-increasing number of squatters, perhaps less amenable to authority than in earlier years, many of them the victims of exploitation by criminals and opportunists; it found too its duties giving rise to considerable public misunderstanding and more than once its officers the subject of physical assault. It became obvious that the time was ripe for a reappraisal of the policies to which the department had, with a few relatively minor modifications, been working since its inception. On the 1st June, 1963, therefore, His Excellency the Governor appointed a Working Party under the Chairmanship of the Secretary for Chinese Affairs to ‘advise on what changes of policy, if any, are required with regard to the provision and eligibility for resettle- ment or low-cost housing, and with regard to the clearance of squatters and the provision of temporary resites for squatting'. Four Unofficial Members of the Urban Councial and senior officers of the departments most closely concerned became members of the Working Party which completed its report on 22nd November, 1963. The report was still being considered by Government and had not yet been released by the end of the financial year. In the meantime, as a stop-gap measure, the Squatter Control Division was strengthened in the latter part of the year.
CHAPTER II
CONSTITUTIONAL
LEGISLATION
8. The legal powers of the Resettlement Department derive from the Resettlement Ordinance No. 16 of 1958 and Regulations made there- under, which replaced the Emergency Regulations previously in force. The Ordinance defines a squatter as 'any person who occupies any land without lawful authority or without the consent of the person entitled to the beneficial occupation of such land', and goes on to define an un- lawful structure. The main provisions of Part II of the Ordinance empower a Competent Authority to clear squatters and unlawful structures from Crown land and confer certain powers upon him in respect of Crown land held on lease or permit. Under this part of the Ordinance the Com- petent Authority for the whole Colony is the Commissioner for Resettle- ment, for the New Territories (except New Kowloon) the District Com- missioner, though he has delegated his authority in respect of Tsuen Wan to the Commissioner for Resettlement, while the General Manager of the Kowloon Canton Railway is the Competent Authority for railway
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