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MR. BERNACCHI:-When the Commissioner for Resettlement speaks about 321 shop premises allocated to those who were at the top of the waiting list, am I not right in saying that the waiting list is not one waiting list but a waiting list for different resettlement areas?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-Mr. Chairman, I referred to "consolidated waiting list" in my reply which contains a list of people who have been waiting chronologically. In other words, those who have been waiting the longest are on the top of the list and are taken as a matter of course.
(At this point THE SECRETARY FOR CHINESE AFFAIRS left the meeting)
MR. BERNACCHI:-Thank you.
MR. SALES:-Sir, is the Commissioner for Resettlement able to tell this Council how many people were in effect resettled in the last financial year so that the matter may be viewed in its proper perspective?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-Mr. Chairman, the Statement of Progress laid on the table earlier this evening refers in paragraph 119 to approximately 85,500 persons having been resettled. Nevertheless, these figures are in fact in reference to the urban area only, and the figure for resettlement areas as a whole, that is, including the New Territories, shows that 120,499 persons were resettled in all the resettlement estates in the last financial year.
MR. SALES:-Thank you.
(7) MR. A. DE O. SALES asked the following question:
(a) Is the Chairman in a position to tell this Council what recreation grounds are held by the Services in the Urban areas and the extent to which they are used?
(b) Do local schools and sports groups have full access to them when not used by the Services?
THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:
I regret that I do not have the necessary information to answer your question, Sir, but I have referred it to the appropriate authorities for attention and will let you know, in due course, what reply I receive.
MR. SALES: Sir, accepting your answer at its face value, though I consider it to be evasive, may I enquire whether, despite the prescribed notice which Standing Orders set out, there has not been enough time for you to marshall the information concerning the actual facilities which the Services have in the urban areas? Sir, do you not think that this Council would be right in expecting that the Department would have the information on file?
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CHAIRMAN:-Sir, I am surprised and a little pained that you should suspect that I am not being utterly straightforward in this matter. I assure you the matter was handled in the correct manner. An approach was made to the authorities concerned and a request was received for a communication in writing stating the details of the information sought. That communication was duly despatched. I have no doubt that in due course a reply will be received.
MR. BERNACCHI:-Mr. Chairman, I would refer you to Standing Order 8(9) in further reply to Mr. SALES' last supplementary: a question shall not contain ironical expressions. (Laughter).
MR. SALES:-Sir, may I ask you to draw the attention of the ci-devant Chairman of the Standing Orders and Procedure Select Committee that there was no ironical expression in my question. It was merely an expression of what I thought your reply meant.
MR. MARDEN:-Mr. Chairman, am I not right in saying that it is easier for educational establishments to make use of the Services' playing fields than it is to make use of the Government's playing fields?
CHAIRMAN:-There may be something in what you say, Sir, but I cannot confirm your statement at this stage. My impression, if it has any value to you, is that the Services are perhaps not over-stocked with recreational facilities and that they do make good use of them. No doubt we will have a reply in due course.
MR. SALES: Sir, I am prepared to wait for that reply and may I suggest that it be given in writing to the appropriate Select Committee for consideration.
(8) MRS. E. ELLIOTT asked the following question:
(a) Is it correct that many boat squatters in urban areas are not true boat people, but landsmen who have taken to boats after eviction from tenements and illegal structures?
(b) Presuming the answer to (a) is in the affirmative, do such boat squatters and their resettlement come under the jurisdiction of the Urban Council?
(c) Would the Commissioner be prepared to discuss problems concerning boat squatters near urban areas, in the Select Committees on Resettlement of this Council?
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