Resettlement_Department_Annual_Report_1955-1956 — Page 57

Resettlement Departmental Reports 徙置事務處年報 All

by the Screening Section. Teams of screeners visit every structure in the area and the particulars required are recorded on a screening form which shows the names of all persons living in the structure, the number of persons in each family, their ages and relationships, identity card numbers, length of residence in the Colony, places of employment, persons to whom reference can be made, the type of trade or business conducted in the structure (if any), and the average income earned by the whole family.

115. The demand for resettlement is so great that there will always be persons claiming to be resident in squatter areas when in fact they live elsewhere. There will also be persons who will move into a squatter area after the screening teams have started work. Such persons are not eligible for resettlement and it is the responsibility of the screeners to see that their names are not included in the screening forms.

116. As soon as screening is completed the screening forms, together with the covering report of the operation, are sent to the Resettlement Administration Office in Kowloon. This covering report gives the numbers of families, persons, domestic premises, shop and factory premises and all other information which might be useful to the Mobile Resettlement Unit which will carry out the actual clearance.

117. The screening of squatter fire victims is more difficult, as there are always a certain number of impostors who will register with the Social Welfare Office after a squatter fire in order to obtain the usual emergency relief given to squatter fire victims. It must therefore be a much more lengthy process involving much questioning and checking of statements in order to establish whether a person claiming to be a victim of a particular fire was in fact resident in the area at the time of the fire.

118. In the past two years the screening staff have learned to appreciate the problems and fears of squatters and fire victims, the majority of whom are persons living a hand-to- mouth existence. As a result there is now a general feeling among squatters that they can rely upon the staff of the depart- ment to listen sympathetically to their difficulties, to give them

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