land. Part III deals with the screening of persons before resettlement, the Commissioner for Resettlement being the Competent Authority for the whole Colony. Parts IV and V are concerned respectively with the letting and management of resettlement estates and cottage resettlement arcas. The Competent Authorities for these sections are the Commissioner for Resettlement in respect of the New Territories, and the Urban Council for Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and New Kowloon.
THE URBAN COUNCIL
9. As mentioned above, the Urban Council is the Competent Authority for Parts IV and V of the Resettlement Ordinance in respect of the urban areas. This means, in effect, that it is responsible for the management of the urban estates and cottage areas. It can let and terminate domestic, shop and factory tenancies in resettlement estates and can amend tenancy cards. In cottage areas, it can authorize the erection of buildings on permit, approve the form of hire purchase agreements, authorize the occupation of buildings, revoke and amend occupation permits and let Government-owned buildings.
10. The Council delegates its responsibilities to two Select Committees in the following terms:
Resettlement Policy Select Committee: To exercise the powers and functions of the Council as a Competent Authority under Part IV and Part V of the Resettlement Ordinance, 1958, and to determine overall resettlement policies and the planning of future operations. Resettlement Management Select Committee: To exercise the powers and functions of the Council as a Competent Authority under Part IV and Part V of the Resettlement Ordinance, 1958, including the power to appoint authorized officers and to:
(i) supervise and carry out the general administration of cottage
resettlement areas;
(ii) make recommendations for the effective administration and
control of the multi-storey resettlement estates.
Membership of these Committees for 1963-64 can be found at Appendix I. The Select Committees in turn delegate many of their routine duties to a delegated member who is usually the Commissioner for Resettlement. In addition, some Councillors act as visiting members to a particular estate so that they are able to keep themselves and the department informed of its problems. Officers in the department carry out the day to day business within the policies laid down by Government, the Urban
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