the rent advance scheme. Licensed areas are provided by the Govern- ment with such basic facilities as a public water supply, surface drains and latrines. As they are of a temporary nature, huts are very simple but must be built of fire-resistant materials. A standard scale is laid down for hut-sizes, depending on the number of occupants, and huts are usually built by contractors at prices ranging from $2.50 to $3.50 a square foot, according to the locality. Apart from the basic amenities provided by the Government, the larger areas may contain schools, welfare centres and clinics, supplied and run by charitable or religious organizations. Most areas have a number of shops operated by former squatters.
24. During the year 9,595 people were resited into licensed areas. They comprised :
232 victims of natural disasters and fires;
779 tenants and rooftop squatters from condemned buildings;
57 compassionate cases;
3,086 boat squatters;
674 homeless people remaining on sites after clearance operations;
4,084 squatters from demolished illegal structures;
683 persons of other categories, mainly former tenants or permittees evicted
from estates and cottage areas.
Class III Licensed Areas
25. The need to free large areas of Crown land for development has displaced a number of industrial undertakings which require substantial storage space and are not therefore suitable for resettlement in the department's flatted factories. In March 1969 the Government set aside an area at Kwun Tong, officially known as a Class III licensed area, to accommodate such undertakings. By the end of the year, 100,827 square feet of space had been allocated to 107 operators. The annual licence fee is $1.80 a square foot.
SQUATTER FIRES
26. The year was a bad one for squatter fires. 23 serious fires were recorded displacing 1,485 families, or 7,807 persons, from various squatter areas. The most serious one occurred at Tai Hang Sai on 2nd December, 1969 and affected more than 5,000 persons. 7,163 fire victims were resettled during the year.
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