137. This survey indicated that the total number of persons occupying unlawful structures at that date was about 333,000, including 13,000 fire victims living in huts on the streets. By the end of March, 1956, this figure had been reduced to 305,000.
138. Not all these persons are living in typical squatter huts. Some 40,000 are occupying quite well built stone or brick bungalows or two-storey houses. These houses are none the less illegal in that they have been built without authority either on Crown land or private agricultural land. The majority of those in this category are in two main areas; the Diamond Hill area, Kowloon, and the area south of the main road at Shauki- wan on Hong Kong Island. It seems probable that both these areas, which at present have no piped water supply and no sewage system, will have to be cleared before long for properly planned development.
139. The speed with which the remaining 305,000 squatters can be resettled now depends entirely on the speed with which the multi-storey buildings can be constructed. This fact becomes evident if one considers the variation in the figures for the numbers of persons resettled in each of the four quarters of the year.
In the first quarter it was 18,821 but in the second and third quarters the figures fell to 3,993 and 5,447 solely because there were fewer new multi-storey buildings into which the squatters could be moved. In the last quarter, on the other hand, when many new buildings at Li Cheng Uk and Tai Hang Tung became available the number rose to the highest quarterly figure so far achieved-22,714. About 38,000 of this total of over 50,000 persons were resettled in new multi-storey buildings while the remaining 12,000 persons were moved into the cottage
areas.
140. The position now is that while the Resettlement Depart- ment has an organization which can resettle squatters at the rate of about 80,000 persons a year, it has not so far been possible for the Public Works Department to build multi-storey accommodation for more than about 40,000 persons a year. The cottage areas have in past years helped to swell the number of persons resettled each year but these are now almost fully
57
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.