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WHY YANYI VILLAGERS MD.
WAIT ANOTHER YEAR
view of the understandable public concern over the case of the Yan Yi villagers, I should like to explain why the Yan Yi villagers have been living where they are for several years and why it has been necessary to offer them resettlement early next year rather than immediately.
Over the last 20 years Government has provided permanent housing to over 40 per cent of the population of Hongkong at rents which are about 1/5th to 1/3rd of the rent they would have to pay for similar accommodation. in privately-owned buildings.
Despite this enormous housing effort, its cheapness still stimulates a big demand for housing which we are trying to satisfy.
The housing is produced by two bodies subsidised by the Government: the Housing Authority and the Hongkong Housing Society, and also by the Public Works Department.
The housing produced by the Public Works Department is mainly for homeless people who have to be resettled, but some of it is allocated to families of at least four persons with an income of $500 or below per
month who arc unsatisfactorily housed, on
applicatic
There is a waiting list of applicants that represents about half a million people.
The Public Works Department produces accommodation for the homeless and waiting groups to house about 100.000 persous a year - or about 20,000 families.
When allocating this accommodation first priority is given to people made homeless by:
(1) fires, typhoons, floods.
etc;
(2) buildings they are living in being declared dangerous; and
(3) clearance for development of the land on which their huts stand.
These homeless people use up most of the housing produced. Any balance of accommodation available after these commitments have been met goes to:
(4) people on the waiting list; (5) people who are recommended for resettlement by the Director of Social Welfare on compassionate grounds;
(6) people in bad squatter areas;
(7) people who have been in Licensed Arcas for several
years; and
(8) people who are living in over-crowded rooms in resettlement estates.
But there is never enough space available to satisfy the needs of all the people in these categories in any one year.
Because of the general shortage of low-rent accommodation, many people still put up a hut illegally on public land. When we discover a new hut we demolish it.
We demolish about 40 such huts every working day in the urban areas and other new huts are discovered and demolished when land is cleared for development.
If the people in the huts claim to be homeless, we offer them a place in a Licensed Area where they can build a hut and wait until accommodation is available in a resettlement estate. They pay $3 a month for a site.
The people in Yan Yi Village were all squatters who were temporarily rehoused in this way.
We cannot house such
squatters in resettlement estates immediately, otherwise squatting would become t quick way of getting into Government housing at the expense of other people who have a better case for it, for example people who have been on the waiting list for many years, or people who are made homeless by a fire.
About 35,000 people are living in Licensed Areas at present.
Life is fairly spurtan and uncomfortable bui MONE occupants find that it is worth waiting there until a place is available for them In # Government housing estate.
Normally licensees arc offered resettlement when they have been in a Licensed Area from between two and four years, but no promuse as to the length of stay is ever given.
The reason for this is that the spaces available in resettlement estates in any year are often required for unpredictable commitments '- such as the 20,000 people from the May/June rains this year.
Undoubtedly people in Licensed Areas are unsatisfactorily housed but they are better off than many people living in private buildings or squatter areas, and at least they have the hope of getting permanent accommodation of a high standard at a very low rental in a comparatively short period.
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The people from Yan Yi Village are licensees who have been waiting from two to four years and could have been re given resettlement this year ünder normal arrangements if it had not been for the fact that a, great deal of accommodation had to be found for about m 20,000 people whose homes had to be evacuated as a result of the May/June rains,
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The site of Yan Yi Village was not seriously affected by the rains and the licensees therefore did not qualify for resettlement at that time although other licensees neighbouring areas did.
Naturally they were upset about this and irritated by public works in the area which inconvenienced them.
However, we have offered them resettlement next year probably before the end of March in Sau Mau Ping Estate and hope that they will accept it.
Resettlement could only be given immediately by denying it to more deserving cases and it would give rise to demands for equal treatment by thousands of other licensees who are now patiently waiting their turn.
In time, we hope that the need for Licensed Areas will disappear altogether but this will only happen when there is sufficient Government housing available at prices that people can afford.
In the meantime, we are trying in various ways to make life a little more comfortable in the Licensed Areas.
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We are already poised to fo expand the present Government housing programme substantially so the outlook is definitely favourable to those in need of better housing including, of course, occupants of Licensed Areas,
J. C. C. WALDEN, Ag Commissioner for Resettlement.
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