Resettlement_Department_Annual_Report_1959-1960 — Page 29

outside hawker bazaars is prohibited. A covered bazaar between Blocks BB and CC, Shek Kip Mei and stalls in the first of three hawker bazaars in Kwun Tong Estate were nearing completion at the end of the year. It is planned to have bazaars in all new Estates.

61. It is also the responsibility of the estate staff to see that the conditions of all tenancy cards are observed. These conditions are made as simple as possible, the most important being that the rent must be paid in advance each month on the rent day; that the tenant may not transfer his room to any other person or sublet any part of it; and that he must not allow the commission in his room of any offence against the laws of the Colony. For workshops there are additional special conditions, and restaurants, cafes and food shops are bound by the Urban Council licence conditions.

62. If the conditions of a tenancy card are not observed verbal warnings are given by the staff, to be followed, if necessary, by preliminary and final warning letters. In most cases these warnings are effective; but if no notice is taken of final written warning it is necessary to terminate the tenancy and to require the tenant and his family to vacate the premises. So far as rent payments are concerned, the condi- tions of the tenancy card provide for cancellation as soon as the monthly rent is in arrears, but these tenancies are not in fact terminated unless either the rent is more than twenty eight days in arrears or unless the tenant is persistently more than fourteen days late in making his rent payments. A total of 333 tenancies had to be terminated during the year under review; 248 were terminated for non-payment of rent, 79 for unauthorized transfers, 1 for trafficking in heroin, and 5 for miscel laneous offences.

63. In order to spread rent collections over the whole month each estate is divided into sections, cach of which has a different rent day. If for example the rent day for a section is the 12th the rent paid on that date will be for the monthly period ending on the 11th of the following month. As all the rooms in each section have the same rent day it is easier for the estate staff to remind settlers when payments are duc. Regular and constant attention is paid by the staff to this matter and out of a total of $8,897,982 due in rents for the financial year 1959/60 only $4,664 had to be written off as irrecoverable arrears.

64. The Urban Council is kept in close touch with the problems of the multi-storey estates in two ways. Firstly, through its Resettlement Areas and Estates Select Committee which meets regularly once a month. The subjects with which this Committee deals are of a great

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