Resettlement_Department_Annual_Report_1956-1957 — Page 33

all the multi-storey estates, a Cadet Officer. Each Area Officer is normally responsible for one or two multi-storey blocks, the population of which will be between 3,000 and 4,000. His most obvious duty is the supervision of the work of the sanitary squads responsible for the cleanliness of all the public spaces inside the buildings-passageways, staircases, latrines, washing spaces and bathrooms, and also for the courtyards. As there are only three sanitation labourers for each block, it is clear that if the public spaces and courtyards are to be kept clean the new settlers must quickly learn to discard any slovenly or insanitary habits which they have acquired in the squatter areas.

62. Simple rules of hygiene are then the first lessons the Area Officer must endeavour to teach but there is much more that the new settler must learn: why, for example, it is im- portant to pay his rent on the due date; why he must not engage in any occupation in his room which would cause a nuisance to his neighbours or which is contrary to the laws of the Colony; and the fact that the law requires a licence to be obtained for certain trades and businesses. Another side of the Area Officer's work will be the settling of disputes, in particular disputes between two small families who may have to share the same room. In carrying out these diverse duties he will need to win the co-operation and respect of the large number of settlers who must be trained to become good tenants of Govern- ment and good citizens of Hong Kong. This is no light task and calls for the patient exercise of imagination and tact, coupled with firmness and perseverance.

63. In the domestic rooms on the upper floors settlers are allowed to engage in cottage industries such as rattan and embroidery work, most of which is piece work done for firms operating in other parts of the Colony, while many trades and businesses which are unsuitable for the upper floors can be accommodated in ground floor bays of 240 sq. ft. for which a higher rental is charged. The number and variety of these ground floor businesses increased considerably during the year, by the end of which there were 485 shops and 152 workshops. 53 of the shops were licensed restaurants or cafes, 7 were licensed to sell fresh meat and fresh fish, while the remaining

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