8
SUNDAY, MAY 28, 1978
YUEN CHAU TSAI SQUATTER AREA CLEARED FOR MAJOR DEVELOPMENT
******
THE YUEN CHAU TSAI SQUATTER AREA-OFFICIALLY DESCRIBED AS THE MOST SQUALID IN THE NEW TERRITORIES - NO LONGER EXISTS.
GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS THIS WEEK COMPLETED A FIVE-MONTH CLEARANCE OPERATION TO MOVE NEARLY 4,000 PEOPLE FROM THE AREA INTO PUBLIC AND TEMPORARY HOUSING,
ALL THAT REMAINS OF THE AREA TODAY ARE THE SMOKING RUINS OF THE FLIMSY WOODEN AND TIN STRUCTURES THAT WERE FIRST PUT UP ABOUT 20 YEARS AGO.
THE TAI PO DISTRICT OFFICER, MR. CLIVE OXLEY, SAID TODAY THAT THE CLEARANCE OPERATION - CARRIED OUT BY DISTRICT OFFICE AND THE HOUSING DEPARTMENT STAFF - HAD REMOVED AN EYESORE FROM THE DISTRICT.
+THE GOVERNMENT HAD PLANNED FOR MANY YEARS TO REMOVE THE STRUCTURES BUT THE OPPORTUNITY ONLY CAME LAST YEAR WITH THE DEVELOPMENT PLANS FOR TAI PO AND THE AVAILABILITY OF SUITABLE ALTERNATIVE ACCOMMODATION IN THE DISTRICT.
+ IT WAS NOT AN EASY CLEARANCE BECAUSE MOST OF THE YUEN CHAU TSAI RESIDENTS ARE FISHERFOLK WHO HAD LIVED IN THE AREA FOR MANY YEARS AND WERE WORRIED ABOUT THE MOVE, EVEN THOUGH THEY LIVED IN CONDITIONS THAT WERE EXTREMELY UNHYGENIC AND HAZARDOUS AS FAR AS FIRE WAS CONCERNED,
+BUT NOW THAT THE FAMILIES HAVE ALL MOVED INTO THEIR NEW ACCOMMODATION THEY REALISE THAT THEIR ORIGINAL WORRIES WERE GROUNDLESS. IN FACT, MANY FAMILIES HAVE SINCE MENTIONED TO ME HOW HAPPY THEY ARE WITH THEIR NEW ACCOMMODATION.+
MR. OXLEY SAID ABOUT 20 PER CENT OF THE 500 FAMILIES FROM YUEN CHAU TSAI HAD GONE TO LIVE AT THE WO CHE PUBLIC HOUSING ESTATE AT SHA TIN.
+MORE FAMILIES WERE ACTUALLY QUALIFIED FOR PUBLIC HOUSING, EUT THEY PREFERRED TO GO TO THE NEARBY YUE KOK TEMPORARY HOUSING AREA BECAUSE OF THEIR TIES WITH TAI PO, HE SAID.
APART FROM PROVIDING THE FAMILIES WITH NEW HOMES, MR. OXLEY SAID THE GOVERNMENT HAD ALSO PAID MORE THAN $500,000 IN REMOVAL ALLOWANCES AND ANOTHER $360,000 IN COMPENSATION FOR COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL CONCERNS.
THE SQUATTER AREA IS NOW THE SCENE OF INTENSE DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY, AS PWD CONTRACTORS ARE ENGAGED ON SITE FORMATION WORKS WHICH WILL RESULT IN THE AREA HAVING A NEW BRIDGE, AN INTERCHANGE FOR THE $220 MILLION SHA TIN-TAI PO COASTAL ROAD AND A PUBLIC RECREATION AREA.
+THE CLEARANCE HAS NOT ONLY REMOVED THE MOST SQUALID SQUATTER AREA IN THE NEW TERRITORIES, BUT HAS PROVIDED LAND WHICH IS NECESSARY FOR THE OVERALL DEVELOPMENT PLAN TO BUILD A MODERN TOWNSHIP FOR 220,000 PEOPLE IN TAI PO,+ MR. OXLEY ADDED.
19