CONFIDENTIAL
merely solve the problem of unhoused refugees. The need
now is to improve the quality of accommodation overall and
bring about a substantial drop in density and improvement
in environment. That is to say there is a normal urban
renewal requirement in which the planner has as important
a part to play as the builder. But it is made appallingly
difficult by the absence of building sites, the very high
cost of land, and the unique density of the population.
18. Resettlement of squatters is a rather different type
of problem to that of housing and is to some extent
presentational.
I am sure that it would be in the Colony's
interests to take drastic steps to eliminate and redevelop
the squatter areas which are such a visible feature of
Hong Kong Island, even at considerable expense, and at the
cost of departing from normal criteria for resettlement.
Moreover the figures of squatters have a fascination for
the public and press, and some means of early eradication
of this phenomenon must be found even at the expense of
deferring action in other, and perhaps by objective standards,
more urgent fields of housing.
Labour matters
19. I have read papers about the labour legislation which
was drafted after 1967, but much of which has run into the
sand. I have also spoken to Mr Foggon about it. He will
be visiting Hong Kong in December, and I look forward to
further discussion with him on the spot. At the moment
/I have
9. CONFIDENTIAL
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