Resettlement_Department_Annual_Report_1954-1955 — Page 25

MARINE DEPARTMENT LIBRARY

the time by means of orthodox resettlement, ther squatters should be moved temporarily and without ceremony to adjacent areas of Crown land.

Third, the need to make an overall plan should in no way be overlooked or postponed; the results of the multi- storey experiment in Shek Kip Mei should be examined as soon as possible and, if the experiment was judged to be successful, plans for multi-storey building on a much larger scale should be laid before Government without delay.

23. In general this programme was adhered to. The fire lanes were effective as such, in that almost every fire which took place would have been much larger and more serious had the fire-lanes not existed; on the other hand this success was offset by the fact that an unusually large number of fires of medium size took place during the period October 1954-January 1955. It further appeared that the summer (in the case of 1954, an exceptionally dry summer) was not after all a close season for major fires, and the fire breaks proposed in the worst remaining area after Shek Kip Mei were never made at all, as will be explained in the next chapter, because the whole area burnt out in July. On the other hand the multi-storey programme proceeded more rapidly than had been thought possible. The initial experiment at Shek Kip Mei consisted of multi-storey buildings for over 18,000 persons. Before the year was out this experiment had been completed, its results had been assessed as satisfactory, and similar accommodation had been built else- where for nearly 30,000 additional persons.

CHAPTER V

FIRES, FIRE VICTIMS AND FIRE LANES

24. The era of the great squatter fires was brought to a close during the year under review, since all the major remaining fires either took place during the year or were permanently

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