Resettlement_Department_Annual_Report_1957-1958 — Page 52

structures on rooftops. In many cases these structures had not been erected for domestic use but were rather intended to be used for storage purposes, or as a kitchen or bathroom. However since this implied that space within the structure formerly used for these purposes had been converted to domestic use, or since the conversion to domestic use would be a very simple matter at a later date, no distinction could be made, and action had to be taken against all new squatter structures discovered.

128. The Squatter Control and Rooftop Squatter Prevention Sections also have a number of less unpleasant duties. There is not always sufficient accommodation in areas or estates to offer to squatters occupying land urgently required for development, and on some occasions it is possible to arrange for the squatters to resite their structures and so free the land. In these cases sites are prepared in the vicinity, under the supervision of officers of the Department, and are then allocated to the squatters who are permitted to rebuild their structures to the same dimensions as those they have been occupying. During the year a total of 293 structures were moved in this way.

129. When tenement premises are due for demolition prior to redevelopment, the occupants of any structures on the rooftops of the buildings are registered for resettlement when accommodation is avail- able, and arrangements are made for them to rebuild their structures in the meantime on sites allocated by the Department. By the end of the year under review over 1,000 squatters had been registered in this way.

130. After squatter fires it is the officers of the Squatter Control Section who carry out the registration of the victims and who allocate to them alternative sites on which they may rebuild their structures.

131. When huts are dangerous or in need of repair the officers of the Squatter Control and Rooftop Squatter Prevention Sections are authorized to give permission for and to supervise the work of renovation and repair, and in many cases, of moving structures to less dangerous sites. After the heavy rains in May, 1957, a great deal of the time of the squatter patrols was taken up in helping persons whose huts had been badly damaged to reconstruct and repair their structures. Altogether 294 huts were badly damaged and had to be totally rebuilt. In one area, adjacent to the Kowloon Permanent Cemetery No. 1, the rains caused a landslide as a result of which eighty two huts were destroyed or rendered dangerous. The occupants were offered alter- native sites in the vicinity on which they were permitted to rebuild their huts.

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