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CHAIRMAN:-Ladies and Gentlemen, the meeting is called to order.
MR. SALES: Sir, I wish to rise and protest in the strongest possible terms at the fact that television coverage is given when Official Members speak. (Laughter). When two weeks ago the Unofficial Members spoke, Government could not be persuaded to find room for the television team. This discrimination against Appointed and Elected Members alike must be deplored as strongly as possible. Could it be, Sir, that the Official Members are better-looking than the Unofficials? (Laughter). I dare say, Sir, this cannot be so, because on our side there are three lady members, and until Government can be persuaded to appoint a female Official Member we must record what we consider to be a most uncalled-for discrimination against Unofficials. (Applause).
CHAIRMAN: Sir, you have given notice of a question on this very subject which you propose to raise at the next meeting of this Council, and I would not wish to forecast in any way the answer to that question to-day. I can assure you, Sir, that the Official Members do not fancy themselves, as Dr. BELL said to me when she came into the room, and I would much rather, Sir, that it was not my ugly face but yours that was appearing. (Laughter).
MR. SALES: Sir, did you include the ladies again because I must protest. (Laughter). I rise
CHAIRMAN:-Specifically, Sir, I was referring to you. (Laughter). The fact that television did not cover the meetings on the 6th and 7th December was due to a misunderstanding, and I sincerely hope that the ladies and the other Unofficial Members of this Council will appear frequently on television in future. (Laughter).
MR. SALES: Can you assure Council, Sir, there was no sinister design on the part of Government to deprive the Unofficial Members of television coverage on the day that they were to address you?
CHAIRMAN:-I can assure you, Sir, that there was no sinister design on the part of Government.
MOTION.
Resumption of the following motion moved by Dr. R. H. S. LEE at the meeting of the Council held on 6th December, 1965 :-
That this Council endorse the Statement of Aims for 1966 tabled today.
CHAIRMAN:-The debate on the Statement of Aims for 1966, which was adjourned from the last meeting, will now resume, and I have pleasure in calling on the Commissioner for Resettlement to speak.
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COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:
Squatters
1. Mr. Chairman, compared with debates of only a year or two ago, Members have said little about squatters and have concentrated instead on the resettlement estates, their present occupants, and who should be the occupants of the immediate future. This is perhaps a measure of the success of the resettlement programme, and I warmly welcome Dr. BELL's tribute to the work of my department and, by implication, of the Public Works Department which is responsible for the construction of our estates. I cannot however let pass two errors in fact about squatters which slipped into her speech. The first is a minor point: she referred to wooden squatter huts in resite areas. In these areas, the occupants are required to clad their huts in tin sheeting or other fire-resistant material, and this in fact is one of the features about resite areas which readily distinguishes them from the old squatter areas. On a point of order, if I may interrupt myself I see that one or two members have set their stop watches. I hope I may have your indulgence if I overstep the time limit, for members have made a number of suggestions and asked questions which require an answer.
2. The second mistake in Dr. BELL's speech was more serious for she suggested that I quote, "in trying to find more sites for new and better estates, more sites for new schools, new clinics and in opening up wider and more roads, we are causing more squatters". We are in fact doing nothing of the kind. To make way for such developments, we have to clear away many squatter areas, the inhabitants of which are invariably resettled unless they are impostors who have moved in after the clearance survey. If, therefore, there are squatters in an area which has to be developed, their number is reduced, not increased.
3. It may not be generally realized that, last financial year, for the first time ever, the number of urban squatters actually dropped, even allowing for natural increase and a rise in the number accommodated in resite areas. This financial year, development clearances have so far not been going so fast and we are about holding the numbers static, again allowing for natural increase and for new admissions to resite areas, but I hope to make large inroads into the numbers in the latter during the early months of 1966.
Boat Squatters
4. Referring to the congestion in Yau Ma Tei and Causeway Bay typhoon shelters and the danger which these constitute to the efficient working of the port, Mr. FORSGATE recommended a combined operation to resettle ashore all persons from non-working craft in these shelters. Since the programme of clearing boat squatters began in 1962, and up to the end of November of this year, 4,768 squatter boats have been
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