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(d) In planning to remove squatters, is thought ever given to the fact that they are human beings and citizens, or are they treated as garbage to be dumped wherever the authorities please, without reference to the choice of the people concerned?
THE COMMISSIONER for RESETTLEMENT replied as follows:-
(a) The answer to the first part of the question is that 570 persons will be resettled from the Resite Area at Morrison Hill to the Tsz Wan Shan Estate.
(b) In answer to the second part of the question, the length of time taken to travel from Tsz Wan Shan to Wan Chai varies: on a trial journey arranged by the Secretary of the Advisory Committee on Public Transport during the peak period on the morning of the 28th September, it took 1 hour and 8 minutes, of which about 38 minutes was spent in actual travelling. The main source of delay is in changing buses at Wong Tai Sin. Subsequent checks on waiting times during the morning peak period at Wong Tai Sin suggest that this is approaching the maximum time required for the journey. The cost is 40 cents each way, or 80 cents a day. My department maintains close liaison with the Kowloon Motor Bus Company and the Advisory Committee on Public Transport. The feeder service from Tsz Wan Shan to Wong Tai Sin starts at 6 a.m. and ends at midnight, running at 12-minute intervals. I have already asked for extra buses at peak travelling hours. I have no reason to suppose that the service will not be extended as the estate grows.
(c) In reply to the third part of the question, the reason why these people are being resettled at Tsz Wan Shan is that the site is required for an Ambulance Depot and there is no accommodation for them in estates on the Island. All available accommodation at Chai Wan is allocated to occupants of the Chai Wan Resite Area and to squatters in Shau Kei Wan. Similarly, rooms in the Tin Wan Estate will be occupied by squatters in or near Aberdeen. Neither of the reasons suggested in this part of the question is correct.
(d) The answer to the fourth part of the question is that thought is always given to the fact that persons who are being resettled are human beings. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to resettle people in the estates of their choice and, as I have said on a previous occasion, I regret that it will continue to be necessary to resettle people from the Island to Kowloon. I have reason to believe that, although the people at Morrison Hill would naturally prefer to move to Chai Wan, the majority of them are quite willing to accept resettlement at Tsz Wan Shan. In fact, of the 101 families involved in the clearance, 100 families had, by 30th September, already collected their letters of authority which inform them officially of their eligibility for resettlement accommodation and where to pay the rent. By the same date, 66 families had already paid the rent for their rooms at the Tsz Wan Shan Estate. That figure, as from this morning, is now 76 families who have paid their rent.
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MRS. ELLIOTT:- Mr. Chairman, I have several supplementaries to ask. May I ask the Commissioner, through you, Sir, by what means the investigator travelled to get to Wan Chai in 1 hour and 8 minutes? Did he use a private car and with a private launch or did he use public transport?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:- No, Mrs. ELLIOTT. He travelled by feeder service bus from Tsz Wan Shan Estate to Wong Tai Sin. There he changed buses and took the bus to Hung Hom Ferry, from where he took the ferry across the harbour to Wan Chai.
MRS. ELLIOTT:- Mr. Chairman, may I ask which bus to Hung Hom?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:- I could not say precisely. He started his journey at 6.45 a.m. at Tsz Wan Shan Estate and got on to a No. 11 bus, I think, at Wong Tai Sin, according to a note which I have here. Perhaps Mr. WATSON can confirm whether it is No. 11. (Laughter).
MR. WATSON:- Very sorry, I cannot. (Laughter).
MRS. ELLIOTT:- Mr. Chairman, the Commissioner is quite right. No. 11 goes near enough to Hung Hom and requires a short walk, but when I travelled, I went myself to see and it took me 35 minutes to travel from Tsz Wan Shan to Kowloon City, after which I reckon the total time would take at least 1 hour 45 minutes, not 1 hour and 8 minutes, to go to Wan Chai. So I would like to discount the time which the Commissioner has said is the maximum.
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:- Mr. Chairman, if I may enlarge on the timing on these tests. The waiting time at Wong Tai Sin was about 27-28 minutes. On the subsequent day, checks on waiting times were made at Wong Tai Sin between 6.30 and 8.30 in the morning and the longest time that anyone had to wait was 30 minutes.
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