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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
(d) Is it true that boat shops, regardless of their size, are not granted resettlement shops on the grounds that boat resettlement is voluntary?
(e) If the answer to (d) is in the affirmative, is it realistic or even honest to presume that any shopkeeper can continue business once his neighbouring squatters have removed from the area?
THE COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT replied as follows:-
On the first part of the question it is probably correct that many persons living on boats in various anchorages in the urban areas are not true boat people as such, but without a survey of all urban boat squatters it is impossible for me to say what percentage of them are not true boat people.
On the second part of the question the policy towards boat squatters who are living afloat on their boats is that they are eligible for voluntary resettlement if their anchorage is required for development, provided that on resettlement their boats are destroyed to prevent their re-use for squatting. Unseaworthy boats which have been hauled up on to land above the high-water mark are not considered boats as such; they rank as unlawful structures on Crown land and their occupants are subject to the provisions of the Resettlement Ordinance in the normal way if the area on which they stand is required for development.
On the third part of the question I would be glad to discuss the question of urban boat squatters in the Resettlement Select Committees within the context of my last reply. On the fourth part of the question floating boat shops are not granted resettlement shop premises on the grounds, as already stated, that resettlement of persons on floating boats is purely voluntary. Owners of unseaworthy boats used as shops are not entitled to resettlement shop premises since this type of structure is regarded as an unlawful structure on Crown land which has not been tolerated.
On the last part of the question I do not consider it unreasonable to expect any floating boat shopkeeper to move elsewhere to carry on his business if he does not accept voluntary domestic resettlement, when those floating and unseaworthy boats around him are cleared or moved elsewhere. I could not recommend such shopkeepers for shop resettlement in view of the long waiting list for shops for ex-cultivators and pig breeders as well as the commitment to resettle all tolerated squatter shopkeepers from areas required for development. Members are aware that with the advent of the 16-storey Mark IV blocks, there will be proportionately fewer shop premises for allocation to full-time squatter shopkeepers from planned clearance areas.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MRS. ELLIOTT:- Mr. Chairman, may I ask the Commissioner, through you, when he says that unseaworthy boats are considered as unlawful structures on Crown land, are these boats dealt with by the Marine Department or the Resettlement Department?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:- Mr. Chairman, these boats are dealt with by the Resettlement Department as a normal clearance operation.
MRS. ELLIOTT:- Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask another question. I am concerned about the shopkeepers. Am I to understand from the Commissioner's reply, Mr. Chairman, that he is going to sacrifice the needs of one shopkeeper for the needs of another group of shopkeepers? Boat shopkeepers are going to be sacrificed in order to give shops to ex-cultivators.
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:- I did say that the floating shopkeeper would be permitted to carry on business as a floating shopkeeper provided he moves elsewhere, that is, to another anchorage, and presumably carries on business with the floating population around him. On the question of shopkeepers in boats which are of unseaworthy nature, they are not considered suitable or acceptable for resettlement shop premises.
MR. BERNACCHI:- I should like to ask the Commissioner a supplementary too on his answer to the fourth part of the question. Surely, owners of unseaworthy boats used as shops are entitled to resettlement shop premises under the Resettlement Ordinance if the boats are tolerated as having been used as shops for a certain number of years?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:- Mr. Chairman, that would be correct. If an unlawful structure happened to be a boat on some previous occasion but was registered as a tolerated structure in 1959 and was then being used for shop premises, it would in fact merit shop resettlement.
MRS. ELLIOTT:- Mr. Chairman, I think what I am going to say relates to this question of shopkeepers, but I am very concerned about pig breeders, ex-cultivators, ex-pig breeders, boat people and squatters,
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