TNAG-0186-FCO40-222-Special-branch-reports-on-Communist-activities-1969 — Page 150

0003230

G.F. 323

CONFIDENTIAL

2

Yesterday morning, around 10 o'clock, representatives of dwellers of the area went to Tsimshatsui to put forward their demand for resettlement prior to clearance. Taking advantage of the absence of the representatives, the British authorities in Hong Kong sent out a party of more than a hundred personnel of the Squatter Control Section and policemen in some 10 trucks to Sections 2 and 10 of the area to demolish the huts in the two sections seven of which were used for business purposes.

The inhabitants tried to reason

with the officials, pointing out that the British authorities in Hong Kong had not given them resettlement yet. Some of them asked where they were to pass the night since they were not yet able to move into the Resettlement Estate. The British authorities in Hong Kong, however, paid no heed to the entreaties of these people and removed forcibly all the goods from the shops and demolished the huts.

Among the affected shops, some are in possession of business registration certificates, paying an annual fee of $25. There is one shop, the Wo Kei Store, whose owner has been evicted four times. Over ten years ago he ran a small shop in Cheung Sha Wan; he had a business registration certificate then. However, he was forced to move to Tai Wo Ping where he built a wooden hut. Two years later, as a result of the decision of the British authorities in Hong Kong to resume his site, he had to move to Shek Li Pui. After another year he was made to move back to Tai Wo Ping because the British authorities in Hong Kong were going to build houses in Shek Li Pui. It has not been easy for him to bear the heavy expenses entailed by the repeated removals, and now his hut is demolished without any assurance of future allocation of alternative accommodation. According to the shop-owner, WONG Wan Po, having been forced to move four times within ten years, he has accumulated debts amounting to several thousand dollars. Now that the British authorities in Hong Kong have gone back on their word and force him to close down his shop, he really does not know how he is to maintain his livelihood. Yesterday morning, when Government personnel announced their intention of pulling down his hut, he tried to reason with them stating that it was not right for the British authorities in Hong Kong to take such irresponsible measures and demanding resettlement before demolition. However, the British authorities in Hong Kong would not listen to reason. declared that they would carry on the clearance today.

They

Having demolished a number of huts in Sections 2 and 10. the same party of personnel of the British authorities in Hong Kong moved into Section 7. Over a hundred personnel of the Squatter Control Section rushed into the huts and shops and forcibly removed all the goods. Some women and children stayed inside their huts and refused to quit but they were dragged out by the Hong Kong British police. Then, crow bars and steel saws were used to destroy the wooden huts. The furniture in the huts was mostly damaged. At that time, the whole area was enveloped in sorrow and anxiety. One was grieved to hear the weeping of the housewives and the crying of the

/children.

CONFIDENTIAL

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