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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. BERNACCHI:--The official Members of this Council have replied to most of the points raised in the speeches of the Unofficials, so I will content myself with replying to some points raised in the Officials' speeches.
First of all, in the Commissioner for Resettlement's speech, he says "that to a very large extent conditions in the estates today are attributable to overcrowding". He says other things as well, but I agree with him and I do deprecate the continuous inclusion in Hing Wah estate of people other than for the relief of overcrowding of the next door estate of Chai Wan. First of all, one half of the estate was for the relief of overcrowding, and now it has only 20,000 units out of a total of 60,000 for overcrowding. I do stress that we should be more attentive to the relief of overcrowding even though the clearance of other people may be delayed thereby.
Then he says that many of the problems are attributable in a large degree to the invasion of hawkers into the estates. Police control the Housing Authority estates. A manager of a Housing Authority Estate has only to contact the local Police Station and usually a squad of Police can clear the illegal hawkers from the Housing Estate. But Resettlement areas are towns, and apparently the Police are not so much inclined to indulge in a wholesale clearance of squatters from these estates. I think it is essential that more markets and more hawker bazaars are erected in resettlement estates and then we must (a) exclude all hawkers that are not tenants of the estates from coming into the estates and (b) even exclude the tenant hawker except in hawker bazaars and markets. But that is only possible provided more modular markets, including hawker bazaars, are built in the estates. That way we can clear the problem of invasion of hawkers in a market in a way that is satisfactory to the tenants, both in the demands of cleanliness, demands for free breathing space in the estates and to the demands of the hawkers themselves.
The Commissioner for Resettlement said that 75% of the families in the resettlement estates have 24 sq. ft. or more per adult. Only 22% have between 16 to 24 sq. ft. Of course he does not break down the 16, 17, 18, 19 as compared with the 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24 sq. ft., and I think there is a very big difference between these two categories, 16 to 19 sq. ft. and 20 to 24 sq. ft. and that is borne out, for instance, in very many other estates. 20 sq. ft. is the minimum presumably for internal decantation, and I think one has to look at the old estates, not the new estates, and then work out those below 20 sq. ft. and see what has to be done for them, because I consider the problem of natural overcrowding increases is such that, in fact, if we do not build all new estates for the purpose of relief of overcrowding, we shall in fact create more and more slums.
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The Commissioner referred to the Shek Kip Mei conversion and, indeed, I know that it is a very good plan, but he concedes, himself, that this is only the beginning. There are very few amongst the total of one million tenants resettled effected by the plan to convert some Mk I and II blocks in the Shek Kip Mei area, and he says that active steps are being taken to devise schemes leading to the eventual conversion or redevelopment of all our Mk I and II estates. I am very pleased to hear that, but I do stress that I hope these plans will not be just in the planning stage in ten years time.
(Dr. Denny M. H. HUANG left at this point).
Then he questions Mrs. ELLIOTT when she says, or appears to say, that during the past seven months of the present financial year, allocations of resettlement accommodation have not been made to compassionate cases and he correctly says that they have, but what I complain about is that they have largely been made to compassionate cases originally recommended last year and there is a considerable delay in allocating compassionate resettlement. Surely cases recommended by the Social Welfare Department, if the Social Welfare Department is doing its job correctly and I assume it is, are the most deserving cases and should be given most reasonable priority.
Then he comments that low-cost housing designs incorporate better fittings, and that the present or future resettlement blocks will be designed according to and be fitted according to the low-cost housing blocks. I urge that this be adopted almost immediately. I cannot see why we must wait, for instance, for the next group of blocks like Hing Wah which, for all I know, will be only completed in three or four years time. Why cannot the refitting be done according to Low-cost housing design immediately? It is not a structural refitting, it is only a design so that the tenant comes into premises that we are more, that are fitted better than resettlement housing accommodation has been fitted in the past.
I do not understand entirely what he means by, when he says, "we know where we stand with our resettlement categories since these involve people who have either become suddenly homeless due to some emergency or other, or have been cleared from land required for development". Does he recommend that all emergency cases be offered resettlement? I think in the past that emergency cases, some yes, mainly they were offered licensed area accommodation. I would be obliged if he would clarify that for the relevant select committee.
I must say that I, and indeed the Reform Club in general, have been urging the buying of flats for years now, and I am delighted to hear that this is being considered by the Commissioner for Resettlement and presumably Government now.
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