HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
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The intention is to introduce similar improvements at Lo Fu Ngam and Wang Tau Hom Estates in subsequent years, but I hope it may prove possible to advance this timing. These are the Mark I and II estates which would come at the end of the queue for conversion or redevelopment, and thereafter we will have to weigh up the gains of introducing these improvements in other estates against their expected life.
Some reservations have been expressed by my staff about the extent to which tenants use these bathrooms. However, this could well be due to their poor facilities, and it could be that the improvements we are making will make them more popular. We will certainly keep an eye on this aspect of the matter.
MRS. ELLIOTT:- Mr. Chairman, am I to understand that the conversion, I mean the repairs and improvements, will be made in Tung Tau within the next six months?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:- Well, not exactly; I said that this improvement work will be done throughout Tung Tau Estate in 1972-73. Exactly when during the year I cannot say, but certainly during the financial year.
(Mr. Peter C. K. CHAN arrived at this point).
MRS. ELLIOTT:- Thank you.
(2) MRS. E. ELLIOTT asked the following question:-
(a) Are homeless persons still allowed to go to licensed areas, in accordance with the recommendations of the White Paper, 1964?
(b) If the answer to (a) is positive, how does a person have to prove that he is homeless, especially when the circumstances may have been brought about by eviction by a landlord or by rent increases that the tenant is unable to meet?
THE COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT replied as follows:-
The answer to Mrs. ELLIOTT's question is yes. Any person who can satisfy the Resettlement Department that he is homeless will be admitted into a Class II licensed area. Proof of homelessness is of course a difficult matter, but my department does make a conscientious effort to investigate the circumstances of each case, often in very considerable detail, including visits to the last place of residence. In some cases of course the position is so clear that no enquiry is necessary. This duty, imposed on my department by the 1964 White Paper, is not an easy one but I am satisfied that we are exercising this discretion very fairly, with a tendency to be more, rather than less liberal in its application.
MRS. ELLIOTT:- Mr. Chairman, these licensed areas are not very attractive and I don't think people would want to go there unless there is need. Could the Commissioner assure me that his officers are not authorized to leave people sleeping on the streets in order to satisfy themselves that they are homeless?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:- I don't think there is any answer to that particular supplementary. It is not a matter of my officers leaving people sleeping on the streets, it is a matter beyond their wishes. It is a matter of whether or not the Department is satisfied, Mr. Chairman, that a claim to homelessness is a valid one. I add that there are imposters. I am glad to say not many, but if you look at our records, about 95% of the applications for admission are allowed.
MRS. ELLIOTT:- Mr. Chairman, may I just clarify? I asked that question because it seems that some officers are leaving some people homeless on the streets, and may I repeat in clarification too that I don't think people would want a licensed area unless they need it.
MR. BERNACCHI:- A supplementary. Are people able to go from a home that they have to get out of to, a licensed area without being, in the meantime, homeless?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:- I think that the answer to that Mr. Chairman is "Yes". I know that there are certain cases which Mrs. ELLIOTT drew to our attention. Certainly there were a number of families who claimed to be homeless, but when we investigated we found some of those who had claimed to be on the point of eviction from their building were not in fact so. Therefore they were not allocated sites. Conversely, had they been so, they would have been admitted.
(3) MRS. E. ELLIOTT asked the following question:-
(a) Is it correct that public toilets are washed three times daily, while in older resettlement estates such as Wang Tau Hom this operation takes place only once a day, leaving the toilets in a filthy condition?
(b) Could attention be paid to toilets in resettlement estates?
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