1958-1959 — Page 11

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

THE severe housing shortage in Hong Kong shows little signs of abatement, despite the almost feverish building activity to be seen on all sides in the Colony. The demand for accommodation remains largely unsatisfied, except perhaps in the higher rented types, and despite the building boom severe overcrowding amongst the very poor, who con- stitute the vast majority of the population, has not been relieved to any significant extent.

2. The general background of Hong Kong's housing problem, which has been so gravely accentuated during the past ten years by the influx of refugees from China, has received much publicity and was described in some detail in last year's report. It is, therefore, un- necessary to reiterate the facts here.* The refugees, who number over one million, are being gradually absorbed in the population of Hong Kong, but the problem resulting from this influx will not be solved for many years. The Resettlement Department of the Government, together with the Public Works Department, have made herculian efforts, and these efforts are continuing with the utmost vigour. The function of the Housing Authority is to relieve the housing problems of that section of the citizens of Hong Kong who are earning between $300-$900 a month, and to house them as far as possible in per- manent, self-contained family dwellings at the lowest possible cost, and at rentals which they can reasonably afford.

✓ 3. The majority of the population in this income group at present live in tenements in the urban area, mainly in grossly overcrowded, unhealthy and insanitary conditions. It is not uncommon for a family of four or more in a tenement to live in a bed space which consists of a bunk-bed, sometimes in two or three tiers. The only privacy provided is by curtains which screen them off from the other families living in similar bed spaces or cubicles on the same floor. Ventilation depends on the whims of the minority of the occupants with access to windows. Sanitary facilities are almost non-existent and generally consist of a water-tap in a communal kitchen and a bucket latrine

* See 'A Problem of People'-Hong Kong Annual Report, 1956.

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