squatters). The programme of clearing and resettling boat squatters from typhoon anchorages continued: 4,682 boat squatters were resettled from typhoon shelters in Yau Ma Tei and Causeway Bay. Altogether 188.76 acres of land were cleared during the year: 44.66 acres of this was under cultivation, ex-gratia compensation for which amounted to $1,346,154. 57,699 persons were cleared and resettled by the Operations Division: that is, they had actually moved into resettlement estates and their former huts had been demolished by the end of the year. (The figure of 63,300 quoted in paragraph 5 of this report relates to persons involved in clear- ances who had paid their estate room rent by the end of the year, but because they had not yet demolished their structures are not included in the Operations Division figure).
CHAPTER V
THE COTTAGE AREAS
38. Cottage resettlement areas are areas of low density resettlement development whose boundaries have been gazetted under the Resettlement Ordinance. Each area consists of a number of cottages, varying from a few hundred to several thousand, mostly constructed of wood or stone and either built privately or by a voluntary organization. The cottage areas are controlled by the Resettlement Department which, in addition to providing management staff, has laid out roads, paths and drains, and installed latrines, water standpipes and public lighting for the settlers.
39. The first cottage areas were established in 1948 for squatters in central areas who were offered sites in more outlying districts which, it was then thought, would not be required for other development in the foreseeable future. There are now fifteen cottage areas in Kowloon, Hong Kong Island and the New Territories, containing 9,752 stone or brick cottages and 3,033 wooden huts, in addition to 373 shops and 87 factories and workshops; 82,899 authorized settlers and 17,178 tolerated unauthorized persons live in them. (Tolerated unauthorized persons are those who came into the areas before the end of December 1961. By a decision of the Urban Council they have been allowed to stay and will be eligible for resettlement when the area in which they live is redeveloped). A list of the cottage areas with the population of each is at Appendix II.
40. Although the settlers themselves constructed the first buildings, many of the cottages now to be seen were built by charitable and non- profit-making organizations. For instance, the National Catholic Welfare
14