XN000022-1993-10-15 — Page 4

N

-

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1993

QUESTION:

LIVE

THE

GIVE

ACCORDING

L'S,

BY FLAT'S

THE

OF

YEAR

TO

WHO MR. PATTEN, I'M THE RESIDENT REP OF PEOPLE ALONE IN THE TEMPORARY HOUSING AREA IN SHEUNG SHUI AND TIN SAM IN

THIS NEW TERRITORIES. WE ARE DELIGHTED TO KNOW THAT IN YOUR ADDRESS YEAR YOU STATED THAT THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE ABLE TO OFFER FLATS TO ALL CURRENT TEMPORARY HOUSING AREA RESIDENTS BY 1997. HOWEVER,

FIGURES TO THE

WHICH THE HONG KONG HOUSING AUTHORITY 1995/96 SESSION THE TOTAL NUMBER OF NEWLY BUILT SELF-CONTAINED IN THE NORTH DISTRICT WILL BE ONLY 488. THIS IS FAR FROM MEETING DEMAND.

THE MR. GOVERNOR, WE ARE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND

FEELINGS

PEOPLE

JN, LIVING IN POOR, SHABBY, UNBEARABLE CONDITIONS YEAR

BEING OFFERED OUT, SUFFERING THE EXTREME HEAT AND THE EXTREME COLD. PERMANENT ACCOMMODATION IS OUR LONG-AWAITED HOPE. WE HAVE TALKED THE RELEVANT GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS BUT ONLY AN INCONCLUSIVE ANSWER WAS GIVEN TO US. WE HAVE NOW REACHED A POINT THAT WE NEED TO PRESENT AUTHORITY. OUR REQUEST TO YOU AND YOUR TOP EXECUTIVES IN THE HOUSING WE HAVE THREE SPECIFIC URGENT REQUESTS.

LIKE TO BE ONE: WE WOULD ASSURED THAT THERE WILL BE ENOUGH SELF-CONTAINED FLATS FOR US WHO LIVE 15 PULLED ALONE BY THE TIME THE SHEUNG SHUI TEMPORARY HOUSING AREA DOWN. TWO: WE EARNESTLY REQUEST OUR FUTURE FLATS TO BE IN OR THE

SHUI AREA. SHEUNG

THREE: PLEASE INCREASE THE NUMBER CONTAINED FLATS IN THE HOUSING PLAN FOR THE WHOLE OF HONG KONG. YOU.

AROUND

OF

SELF- THANK

GOVERNOR:

OR

FOUR

SAW

FOR

THE

TO

AREA

REHOUSED 18,000

EFFORTS WHERE

TO

I'VE VISITED NOW THREE THANK YOU VERY MUCH. TEMPORARY HOUSING AREAS AND IN TWO OF THEM, IN PARTICULAR, EXTREMELY BAD HOUSING CONDITIONS. WE ALL KNOW THE REASON TEMPORARY HOUSING AREAS. THEY'VE HAD TO HELP DEAL WITH SOME OF VERY DIFFICULT SOCIAL PROBLEMS IN HONG KONG, WITH OUR POPULATION INCREASING SO RAPIDLY, AND WITH MANY PEOPLE COMING FROM ELSEWHERE LIVE HERE. THERE ARE ALSO THOSE WHO'VE BEEN LIVING IN SQUATTER AREAS. BUT I'VE BEEN DETERMINED TO SPEED UP THE TEMPORARY HOUSING CLEARANCE PROGRAMME. 5,600 HOUSEHOLDS ARE GOING TO BE

IN

1993/94, THAT'S

PEOPLE ABOUT 1 THINK ABOUT 14,000 PEOPLE.

AS YOU LIVING IN 6,000 HOUSEHOLDS ARE DUE TO BE REHOUSED NEXT YEAR.

IN OUR

LIVING

A IS TO BE ABLE TO OFFER EVERYONE WHO IS SAID,

AIM

BY 1997. TEMPORARY HOUSING AREA AT THE MOMENT, TO OFFER THEN A FLAT

ALSO BUT I

WANT, IF WE POSSIBLY CAN,

OUR TO CONCENTRATE INITIALLY ON CLEARING THE OLDEST OF THE TEMPORARY HOUSING AREAS USUALLY THE CONDITIONS ARE WORST. SO WE'RE PLANNING, FOR EXAMPLE, CLEAR ALL THE TEMPORARY HOUSING AREA ACCOMMODATION WHICH BEFORE 1984, BY 1996. YOUR OWN QUESTION RAISES IN PARTICULARLY FORM TWO OF THE PROBLEMS WE HAVE IN DEALING WITH TEMPORARY AREAS. FIRST OF ALL PEOPLE, VERY OFTEN, WHEN THEY ARE MOVED

HOUSING TEMPORARY

AREA HOME, WANT TO BE MOVED TO SOMEWHERE IN THE VICINITY AND INEVITABLY THAT'S SOMETIMES DIFFICULT.

THINK WHAT J

WE'RE ALL DISCOVERING, AND THE HOUSING AUTHORITY IS

1S DISCOVERING,

THAT THERE ARE DIFFERENT SORTS ACCOMMODATION

FAMILY WHICH PEOPLE REQUIRE ACCORDING TO THEIR SO, WHILE CONTINUING TO BUILD AS MUCH ACCOMMODATION AS WE POSSIBLY CAN FOR PEOPLE IN HOUSING NEED, WE NEED TO BE A LITTLE MORE THE WAY WE PROVIDE ACCOMMODATION, FOR EXAMPLE, GIVING MORE TO THE PROBLEMS OF THE SINGLE ELDERLY. YOU RAISED PARTICULAR PROBLEMS IN THE NORTH DISTRICT. I'LL SPEAK TO ROSANNA WONG, THE CHAIRMAN THE HOUSING AUTHORITY, ABOUT THE SPECIFIC POINTS THAT YOU RAISED ME AND GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU ABOUT THEM LATER. NUMBER TWO?

IMMEDIATE

SECONDLY,

WAS BUILT

SHARP HOUSING FROM A

OF SIZE.

FLEXIBLE IN

ATTENTION

OF

WITH

/QUESTION (THROUGH)