TNAG-0911-FCO40-1121-Policy-on-housing-and-resettlement-in-Hong-Kong-1979 — Page 29

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[Lord Hale.]

Hong Kong:

[LORDS]

I have spoken for too long and I shall not pursue the matter. I have tried to be completely fair and I earnestly congratu- late my noble friend on not thinking such a matter too insignificant for the attention of your Lordships' House and on having presented his case in full detail and with his customary fairness and force.

Lord HYLTON: My Lords, I apologise for speaking without having put down my name but I should like to ask your Lordships' indulgence to put one question concerning the rehousing of the boatmen whose present conditions the noble Lord, Lord Brockway, has so clearly described. One understands the intense pressures on available housing which affect Hong Kong; some of them have been mentioned already. There is the natural increase of the existing population, there are refugees from China and more recently still there have been refugees from Vietnam. Taking all these things into consideration, the pressures on the housing authority are obviously very great indeed. My question is this: if the Government of Hong Kong were able to provide building sites and building materials on the mainland is it not possible that the boatmen would then be able to rehouse themselves in a co-operative way and by methods which one might describe as community self- help?

8.4 p.in.

My

Lord GORONWY-ROBERTS: Lords, I should like first to thank my noble friend Lord Brockway for the way in which he has introduced this debate which, as my noble friend Lord Hale has reminded us, is indeed on a very important subject. I appreciate also the balanced way in which the official spokesman for the Conservative Party put forward his own views.

There is no question of anybody in need of housing in Hong Kong being denied a fair opportunity of achieving that. It is the policy of the Hong Kong Govern- ment to provide subsidised public housing for all who need it. The problem is to provide it fast enough to meet the demands of a population that has increased more than sevenfold in the past 35 years, and a population which is continuing to increase at a rate of over 150,000 a year. In such a situation and despite a housing pro-

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gramme of which the Hong Kong Govern ment have every right to be proud, it is cf course inevitable that there should have to be a waiting list, which in turn meaas that there have to be priorities. It was this situation which led indirectly to the incident referred to by my noble friend i his Question.

The aim of the Hong Kong Government substandard is to rehouse everybody who lives in accommodation. This includes not only boat dwellers but also factory conditions on land. Within this large numbers of people living in unsatis-

general policy, priority is given to people made homeless as a result of fire or natural disaster, or whose homes become danger- from land that is needed for development, ous. Some people, too, have to be moved

usually for new industry and new housing, rehoused immediately. Otherwise, every- and when this happens they, too, are

country. At present, there is a waiting body takes his turn, as is the case in this

list of some six to seven years in Hong Kong-almost as bad as in some parts of time, I would ask your Lordships to bea our own country. If this sounds a long

in mind both the scale of the problem, as shown by the population figures I have just quoted, and the very great efforts that are being made to cope with it. I should like to give a few details of those in a moment.

That is the general picture with regard to priorities for public housing in Hong Kong. The boat dwellers had recently claimed that they should be allowed to jump the queue. Who are the boat dwellers? Those of us who are fairly familiar with Hong Kong and its history will know that Hong Kong has always had a large floating population, most of whom are fishermen but including also a great many involved in other marine trades, such as cargo handling. They are part of a wider tradition extending all around the coast of China. For centuries people have lived their whole lives afloat, hard ever going ashore. In Hong Kong the numbers have in fact declined steadily over recent years as people whose families have worked afloat for generations have taken jobs ashore. Ten years ago there were some 100,000 boat dwellers in Hong Kong; today the reckoning is about 60,000. New industry on land, and obviously new re-housing on land, has made an impact on these and other

Hon

figures. Many o their living fron also a large num people who, una tion ashore, live various typhoon around Hong Ko categories.

First, there ar Kong people wh now taken jobs on their boats for modation. Secon Kong land dwell to boats as a ch modation. Third illegal immigrants in their own boat on them until the shall have a word and the causes for Hong Kong in rece

The policy of the ment towards boa the same as towar allow them to rema they can be mov sidised public ho boats on which th from time to time a be in a dangerous c are moved to temp Since 1977 922 pe which have been fo have been rehous Apart from this, the ment believe there giving the boat peop applicants for gove they must apply i many of them do so, dwellers have been Government since 19

I now turn to 7th January. We report from the Gove Since September last a series of demonstr by a particular grou those from the Ya shelter, who are see allocation of public ho of these demonstratic ised-and I shall de ments for obtaining action was taken ag or those involved un On that day 150 boa