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# HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
## ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN:-Ladies and gentlemen, the meeting is called to order.
Before proceeding with the Agenda, I am sure that Members will wish me to express our warm congratulations to Mrs. SYMONS on her appointment by Her Majesty the Queen as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the Birthday Honours List, in recognition of her fine achievements in the field of education. May I say that it is a matter of great personal regret to me that I have not been given the chance to offer similar congratulations to other members of this Council for their work here.
Looking at the large number of questions on today's Agenda, I would like to think that this results from a genuine desire on the part of Members to take advantage of the presence of Mr. Paul Tsui and myself and so spare Dr. CRAIG and Mr. WALDEN at next month's meeting, and, in view of the long agenda, I would be grateful if Members would bear in mind Standing Orders 8(4) and 8(12).
## MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting held on 1st June, 1971, were confirmed.
(Mr. Henry H. L. HU and Miss Cecilia L. Y. YEUNG arrived at this point).
## PAPER
THE CHAIRMAN laid upon the table the following paper:
(1) Report on the work of the Urban Council and Urban Services Department for the month of June, 1971.
MR. HILTON CHEONG-LEEN:-Mr. Chairman, as Chairman of the Joint Resettlement Policy & Management Select Committees, I wish to make the following comments:
1. As Members are aware, Government is planning to build between now and 1976 low-cost housing accommodation for 700,000 persons, apart from what will be provided under the Housing Authority's own programme.
2. Of these 700,000 individual units, about 185,000 are resettlement-type accommodation which will be extensions of existing resettlement estates.
3.
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The balance of 515,000 units are of Government Low Cost Housing standard which presumably could come under the management of the Housing Authority. Between now and 1976, we might well witness the phasing out of the resettlement building programme, to be replaced and absorbed by the Government Low Cost Housing Programme.
Government is furthermore planning to embark upon a rebuilding or reconversion programme for some of the older and more over-crowded resettlement estates. The first reconversion will take place at the Shek Kip Mei Estate, which has a population of 64,000, eighty percent of whom are living below the former minimum standard of 24 sq. ft. per person. The number of people who are living below the 24 sq. ft. per person standard and are suffering from overcrowded conditions in all resettlement estates is approximately 350,000 persons, out of which 300,000 are in the old Mark I and Mark II estates.
(Dr. Denny M. H. HUANG arrived at this point).
It can thus be seen from this massive programme that sufficient planning must take place to recruit and to train qualified housing personnel to manage the new or reconverted estates as and when they are completed between now and 1976. The question of having more integrated management standards and remuneration levels for both the Resettlement Department and the Housing Authority has to be tackled as a matter of urgency. Resettlement Department personnel through their Staff Association have made representations to the Salaries Commission for improved conditions of service; I hope that these representations will be given sympathetic consideration. It is anticipated that at the July meeting of the Resettlement Joint Policy & Management Select Committees, an initial review will take place of existing training standards of Resettlement Department personnel and of future training requirements.
I am hopeful that during the second half of this year, there will be a number of positive measures which will be taken in the re-ordering of hawker stalls in resettlement estates for the benefit of both resettlement estate tenants and of the hawkers themselves.
The Urban Council and the Resettlement Department are committed to continuously improve the management standards and living conditions in all resettlement estates in the Urban Areas which are within the Council's responsibility.
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