Page 23
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Since the Department and other department officials want to work out procedure this is, of course, beyond the control of the Management Select Committee.
MRS. ELLIOTT:- Mr. Chairman, just one other question, is the Chairman of the Management Select Committee aware that the Social Welfare Department is turning down desperately needy cases on the grounds that the Resettlement Department can't deal with them now?
CHAIRMAN:- I must rule that out of order, Mrs. ELLIOTT, as it has no bearing on your present question.
MR. HU:- I should think, Mr. Chairman, under the old criteria probably there were cases where we criticized the criteria as being too strict. We hope that in future there will be no such cases.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:- Mr. Chairman, I had written a letter to the Resettlement Department last month in regard to a backlog of 600 cases which have been existing since 1968, and I have just received a letter from the department saying that the general guide lines for clearing this backlog have all been worked out and that the Department hopes to clear up this backlog within two to three months. May I suggest that the Resettlement Management Select Committee review this question of backlog three months hence and see what still requires to be done?
MR. HU: We will do that.
MR. LO: Mr. Chairman, I am sorry I have to ask a supplementary on this because the Chairman of the Management Select Committee gave the impression just now that the criteria was only to be changed in one way namely, to widen the scope for people to get resettled and as a result. The answer was that the procedure was improved, therefore clearing up the backlog and satisfying the spirit of the Management Committee meeting. I would like to ask whether this was so because, in fact, it wasn't so at that time. We found the criteria to be wrong, it wasn't that it was too high.
CHAIRMAN:- I must rule your question out of order as well. The question deals with procedure and the question of procedure has been dealt with. I would like to move to the next question: criteria are not involved at this stage.
(9) MRS. E. ELLIOTT asked the following question:-
Why are new blocks of flats in Tsz Wan Shan standing empty while families in Wong Tai Sin are living in appallingly overcrowded conditions?
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
27
THE COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT replied as follows:-
Three new blocks Nos. 1, 2 and 3 at Tsz Wan Shan have recently been completed and handed over to my department. A certain amount of time was required by Resettlement Department staff for checking of rooms and for organizing the intake procedures. The transformer room serving the estate was only finally commissioned on the 15th of February due to a hold-up in the shipment of the transformer unit arising from the U.K. strikes in 1970, and the theft of the China Light & Power Co.'s main cable. It was not, of course, possible to carry out the required checks on lifts and electrical equipment until an electrical supply was provided, i.e. until after the 15th of February. In addition, the approach road to the blocks was damaged by a burst underground water main and had to be repaired.
As Members of the Resettlement Management Select Committee are aware, the first commitment for accommodation in these blocks is ex-permittees of the Ho Man Tin and Tung Tau Cottage Areas, the clearance of the first of these areas is now in hand and intake of families into the blocks will start tomorrow.
MRS. ELLIOTT:- Could the Commissioner say whether or not he knows exactly how many rooms, or approximately how many rooms, are needed for these two estates one in Ho Man Tin, the other in Tung Tau?
(The Secretary for Home Affairs left the meeting at this point).
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:- I could let you know later.
MRS. ELLIOTT:- It was only approximate. There would be some houses left over, is that the point?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:- Yes, there will be.
MRS. ELLIOTT:- Isn't it possible, Mr. Chairman, to start moving people in from Wong Tai Sin. It doesn't matter how many, I don't care about the numbers.
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:- It is a question of allocation. A proposal will be made to the Management Select Committee for approval for an actual allocation in due course.
(10) MRS. E. ELLIOTT asked the following question:-
Is the Government aware of the insanitary and dangerous conditions in which squatters in Licensed areas such as
Page 27
26
...
Page 23 of 242
26
...
27