XN000022-1984-10-12 — Page 9

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1984

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350 000 SQUATTERS TO BE REHOUSED IN FIVE YEARS

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THE HOUSING AUTHORITY PLANS TO REHOUSE 350 000 SQUATTERS OVER FIVE YEARS WITH A VIEW TO ELIMINATING ALL SQUATTER ENCLAVES IN THE URBAN AREAS.

FROM NEXT YEAR, SQUATTERS WILL BE RESETTLED AT AN INCREASED RATE OF 70 000 PEOPLE A YEAR WITH PRIORITY GIVEN TO THOSE LIVING ON MORE VULNERABLE SLOPES AND SQUATTER BOATS.

THE CHAIRMAN OF THE HOUSING AUTHORITY'S OPERATIONS COMMITTEE DR DENNY HUANG, REVEALED TODAY THE AUTHORITY'S STEPPED-UP EFFORT IN RESOLVING THIS LONG-STANDING PROBLEM.

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ADDRESSING THE LIONS CLUBS OF HONG KONG SOUTH AND QUEENSWAY. DR HUANG SAID A 10-YEAR CLEARANCE PROGRAMME WAS BEING DRAWN UP TO ACHIEVE THIS GOAL.

DR HUANG SAID: +A FEASIBILITY STUDY WHICH IS CURRENTLY UNDERTAKEN INDICATES THAT IT SHOULD BE POSSIBLE TO PROVIDE ADEQUATE PERMANENT REHOUSING FOR ALL ELIGIBLE SQUATTERS UNDER SUCH A LONG-TERM PROGRAMME.+

HE POINTED OUT THAT THE GOVERNMENT'S REHOUSING COMMITMENT TO SQUATTERS HAD BEEN ENORMOUS.

+DURING THE PAST THREE YEARS, AN AVERAGE OF 60 000 SQUATTERS WERE CLEARED EACH YEAR WHILE SOME $25 MILLION PER ANNUM HAD BEEN, AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE SPENT IN CARRYING OUT IMPROVEMENT WORKS TO MAJOR HUT-PRONE AREAS.

+LAST YEAR ALONE, NEARLY 300 CLEARANCES WERE CARRIED OUT, INVOLVING THE REHOUSING OF 52 684 PEOPLE AND EX-GRATIA ALLOWANCE TOTALLING $45.9 MILLION WERE PAID TO NON-DOMESTIC SQUATTER OPERATORS.+

PREVIOUSLY, DR HUANG SAID, SQUATTERS WERE REHOUSED ONLY WHEN THEIR HUTS WERE CLEARED FOR DEVELOPMENT OR HAD BEEN DESTROYED BY NATURAL DISASTERS.

+THE RECENTLY APPROVED NEW PUBLIC HOUSING ALLOCATION POLICIES, HOWEVER, WILL GIVE THEM A CHANCE OF EARLY REHOUSING AND PRIORITY IN APPLYING FOR HOME OWNERSHIP FLATS WITH GREEN FORMS.

+FOR SQUATTERS AFFECTED BY CLEARANCES AND NATURAL DISASTERS, THEY CAN NOW OPT FOR APPLYING HOS FLATS IN LIEU OF REHOUSING, PROVIDED THAT THEY MEET SUCH CRITERIA AS LIVING IN A SURVEYED STRUCTURE. FULFILLING THE SEVEN-YEAR RESIDENCE RULE AND HAVING AT LEAST TWO HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS.

+THE SEVEN-YEAR