Resettlement_Department_Annual_Report_1956-1957 — Page 54

new system has undoubtedly increased the effectiveness of patrolling which is not now interrupted by demolition work.

106. During the course of the year 4,937 new unlawful structures were demolished, either directly by the staff of the Section or by the occupants after the service of a demolition notice. This figure is fifty per cent higher than that for the previous year and shows that unless such action were taken new squatter areas would spring up within a very short time.

107. The Squatter Control Section also has a number of other duties. One of these is the allocation of temporary sites to 'old' squatters occupying land which is required urgently at a time when no resettlement accommodation is immediately available. A total of 207 squatter huts were resited in opera- tions of this kind during the year.

108. Another important duty is the allocation of temporary sites to squatter fire victims, either on the streets, on or near the fire site, or on prepared terraces on hillsides not wanted for any other purpose. The site formation work for all these resiting operations is also carried out by the staff of the Section, the whole work being done in consultation with the Fire Brigade, which is concerned to see that a new fire risk is not created, and the Urban Services Department, which will provide the necessary latrines for these temporary areas. It is in the performance of such duties that the squatter patrols can over- come a great deal of the hostility with which they are often regarded because of their demolition activities.

109. Between February and September 1956, the period when immigration restrictions on persons entering the Colony from China were relaxed, there was a steady and alarming increase in the number of wooden huts on the rooftops of tenement buildings and by October it had become clear that drastic and immediate action would have to be taken if a new fire and health risk similar to that of the old squatter areas were not to be created. The first step was the carrying out of a definitive survey of all rooftop huts. This was completed within about ten days by staff of the Resettlement and Urban Services Departments, after which a public announcement was made that any new huts built after that date would be sum-

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