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a rate of construction which exceeds by a very considerable margin the rate achieved so far by the combined efforts of all the organizations now engaged in the construction of other forms of low-cost housing, i.e. the Hong Kong Housing Authority, the Hong Kong Housing Society, several Co-operative Housing Societies and staff housing schemes undertaken by employers.
To make the present position clear it is necessary to summarize briefly the progress of the multi-storey building programme since its start in August 1954.
The Shek Kip Mei fire in December 1953 and the Tai Hang Tung fire in July 1954 were perhaps blessings in disguise as they made available two very large flat sites in districts where there was already a piped water supply and a sewage system. The speed with which these sites were developed by the Public Works Department has, I am sure, never been exceeded at any time in any part of the world, and their development enabled the Resettlement Department to clear the site for a third large estate at Li Cheng Uk, a part of which had already been cleared by fire.
Having started on the development of these three big estates the next problem was to find more sites in areas where water supply and sewage systems were near at hand. This was not easy, but by early 1956 three small sites had been found—one of 4 acres at Hung Hom, one of 3 acres east of the ancient tomb at Li Cheng Uk and one of 4 acres at Lo Fu Ngam.
The 3 acre site at Li Cheng Uk required little site formation and development was completed within a few months. Unfortunately however the other two sites have proved difficult owing to the unexpectedly large amount of hard rock encountered in site formation work. As a result of these site formation difficulties the rate of construction of multi-storey buildings will in 1957 be below the average rate for the two previous years.
These site formation difficulties led to the conclusion that a high rate of construction could not be maintained unless large and fairly level sites requiring little site formation work could be found. This meant extending the search for sites into districts which had none of the normal urban services such as roads, drains, water supply and a sewage system. By last September additional sites having a total area of about 130 acres had been found and the problem then became one of how to provide access roads, piped water supply, drains and sewers within a reasonable time. The engineering works to be carried out before these sites can be occupied are in fact very considerable and, as Mr. Cheong-Leen has pointed out, there is a shortage of engineers.
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sites having a total area of about 130 acres had been found and the problem then became one of how to provide access roads, piped water supply, drains and sewers within a reasonable time. The engineering works to be carried out before these sites can be occupied are in fact very considerable and, as Mr. Cheong-Leen has pointed out, there is a shortage of engineers.
After careful consideration of the problems involved, it was decided that the key to rapid progress in the future was to start with the development of a 29 acre site at Wong Tai Sin which would provide accommodation for 63,000 persons. As members are aware, work on the piling for the first block of this new estate was started last Tuesday and it is hoped that the first 14 blocks, with accommodation for 35,000 persons, will be completed by the end of May 1958, i.e. within the next twelve months. Simultaneously work will be proceeding on the completion of the estates at Hung Hom and Lo Fu Ngam, on the redevelopment of Shek Kip Mei and on the factory building at Cheung Sha Wan. New buildings in this area will provide additional accommodation for about 15,000 persons. If all goes well, therefore, additional accommodation for a total of 50,000 persons now living in squatter areas will be provided within the next 12 months, as well as a large 5-storey resettlement factory building at Cheung Sha Wan containing 94,000 square feet of floor space and 7 more 'H' blocks at Shek Kip Mei for the persons now living in the temporary two-storey buildings in that estate.
Plans for the continuation of this programme beyond May 1958 are already well advanced. Apart from the completion of the Wong Tai Sin scheme on which work has already started, lay-outs are now being prepared by the P.W.D. for 4 more large new estates at Tung Tau, Kun Tong and the Jordan Valley on the mainland and at Chai Wan on the island and these lay-outs will be submitted to the Resettlement Policy Select Committee in the near future.
The present position therefore is that schemes on which work has already started will provide accommodation for about 78,000 persons while schemes on which much of the planning has already been completed will, if approved, provide housing for a further 162,000 persons.
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