SUNDAY, AUGUST 27. 1989

URBAN SQUATTERS ON UNSAFE HILLSIDES TO BE CLEARED

* *

UNSAFE HILLSIDES ALL RESIDENTS OF URBAN SQUATTER HUTS ON EXPECTED TO BE CLEARED AND REHOUSED WITHIN 20 MONTHS.

ARE

THE HOUSING DEPARTMENT. UNDER ITS OVER THE PAST FOUR YEARS

ALMOST 38.000 SQUATTER CLEARANCE PROGRAMME. HAS CLEARED AND REHOUSED SQUATTERS FROM POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS SLOPES.

ANOTHER

8.000

SQUATTER

HILLSIDES ARE EXPECTED TO BE PROGRAMME.

HUT REHOUSED

ON

RESIDENTS LIVING

UNSAFE UNDER THE 1989-90 CLEARANCE

OR SQ PEOPLE REMAINING ON BE CLEARED UNDER THE 1990-91

10,000

IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THE UNSAFE SLOPES IN THE URBAN AREA WILL CLEARANCE PROGRAMMES,

THROUGH THE

GOVERNMENT

HAS

CLEARANCE MADE VERY

OVER PROGRAMMES

THE PAST YEARS THE ΤΟ SAFEGUARD IMPROVEMENTS SIGNIFICANT

SQUATTERS FROM LANDSLIDE HAZARDS.

IN MAY 1982,

IN A

SEVERE

FOUNDATIONS

WERE WERE

HUT RESIDENTS DIED

LANDSLIDES

OR WHICH

26 SQUATTER

SMALL

RAINSTORM. MANY OF THE VICTIMS LIVED IN FLIMSY WOODEN HUTS WHICH STRUCK BY DEBRIS FROM

SWEPT AWAY BY DEBRIS-LADEN FLOOD WATER.

OFFICE (GCO) CARRIED

LATER IN 1982. THE GEOTECHNICAL CONTROL OUT A STUDY WHICH SHOWED THAT THERE WERE MORE THAN 50,000 SQUATTERS LIVING ON STEEP HILLSIDES IN THE URBAN AREA VULNERABLE TO LANDSLIPS DURING HEAVY RAINFALL. IN CROWDED SQUATTER SETTLEMENTS COULD CAUSE CASUALTIES.

WHICH WERE PARTICULARLY EVEN SMALL LANDSLIPS

THE GCO'S LANDSLIP MAJORITY OF THE SQUATTER THE NECESSARY LARGE SCALE WORKS

THESE SLOPES COULD NOT BE RECTIFIED UNDER PREVENTIVE MEASURES PROGRAMME BECAUSE THE HUTS NEEDED TO BE CLEARED COULD BE CARRIED OUT.

BEFORE

I

HOUSING IT WAS FOR THIS REASON THAT THE GCO RECOMMENDED TO THE

SUCH SLOPES. BUT THESE DEPARTMENT THAT SQUATTERS BE CLEARED FROM

CAPACITY OF CLEARANCES COULD OBVIOUSLY ONLY BE UNDERTAKEN WITHIN THE THE GOVERNMENT'S HOUSING PROGRAMME.

CLEARED FOR

OUT ON AREAS, WHICH NEW

SUBSEQUENTLY, LARGE SCALE CLEARANCES HAVE BEEN CARRIED STEEP HILLSIDES SUCH AS LAM TIN AND SHAU KEI WAN. THESE

RAINSTORM, THE

1982 MAY WERE HIT BADLY BY HOUSING DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS.

SINCE

WERE

SQUATTER

CLEARANCES BEGAN THE HOUSING DEPARTMENT'S

NEW SQUATTER HUTS FROM PREVENTION TEAMS HAVE EFFECTIVELY PREVENTED BEING ERECTED ON HILLSIDES.

IN THE MEANTIME THE HOUSING DEPARTMENT CONTINUES SQUATTER AREA IMPROVEMENT SCHEMES IN SELECTED LOCATIONS.

то UNDERTAKE

'THESE SCHEMES

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