Resettlement_Department_Annual_Report_1957-1958 — Page 47

and that the huts are rebuilt with fireproof roofs, so that the danger of further fires occurring may be reduced as far as possible.

111.

Three fires however, involving 200 persons in all, broke out on the rooftops of tenement houses, and five other fires were in areas where it was not possible to find sufficient sites, either on the fire site itself or on hillsides in the vicinity, which could be prepared and offered to the fire victims. In these cases, after consultation with the Police, the fire victims were allowed to re-erect their structures on street pavements or on newly reclaimed land at Cheung Sha Wan until such time as accommodation in resettlement estates and areas becomes available. In each of these cases, the appropriate Government department was asked to provide latrines, bath-houses and drinking water stand pipes for the use of the squatters.

112. It is fully appreciated that the use of streets for the temporary accommodation of fire victims in this way is undesirable and that in- convenience to residents in the vicinity must inevitably result whatever efforts are made to minimize it. But the amount of space available elsewhere is strictly limited and by the end of the year under review there were almost 10,000 victims of squatter fires living on the streets of Hong Kong and Kowloon. As has been stated above, the ultimate resettlement of these people must be integrated in the general programme but it is hoped that there will be sufficient accommodation in resettle- ment estates and cottage areas during the next twelve months to allow for the resettlement of all these fire victims.

CHAPTER IX

RESETTLEMENT OF FACTORIES AND WORKSHOPS

113. Most squatter areas in the Colony include not only domestic structures but also a number of small factories and workshops. These may vary in size from fairly substantial businesses with a number of employees to a family concern housed in a corner of the same hut that is used for living and sleeping; but they all have in common the fact that they provide much needed employment for squatters living in the area, of which they form an integral part, and there are few industries carried on in the Colony which are not in one way or another dependent on their products. It is therefore of considerable importance to ensure that the clearance of a squatter area does not entail the closing down of these concerns for lack of premises in which to carry on their trades.

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