Resettlement_Department_Annual_Report_1961-1962 — Page 10

CHAPTER III

SQUATTER CLEARANCE

15. The Operations Division is responsible for planning and carry- ing out the squatter clearance programme.

(a) Planning

16. Virtually all Crown Land in the Urban Area that is not impossibly steep is occupied to a greater or lesser extent by residential squatters or illegal cultivators. Priority of clearance is determined by the urgency with which a particular piece of land is needed. This system of clearance for development also helps the Department in that squatters can understand why they are being cleared, which is an important factor in winning their co-operation.

17. When an area is required for development the Public Works Department applies for clearance, indicating what the land is wanted for and the target date for clearance. Delays may arise from the need to cancel temporary occupation permits and follow resumption pro- cedure but thereafter the Resettlement Department is responsible for clearing the area of all structures and cultivation and resettling all eligible persons, shops and factories found there.

18. When an application is received, the Squatter Control Division finds out from its detailed records how many domestic huts, shops and factories, etc. there are on the ground and estimates how much cultivation and how many people are involved for the information of the Operations Division. From this information, the size of the clearance problem is determined and its priority fixed in relation to previous applications.

19. The following factors are taken into account in deciding the priority of a particular clearance.

(i) Purpose for which the land is required

20. Highest priority is given to land being cleared for resettlement estates as the whole resettlement programme would come to a halt if sufficient provision were not made for this purpose. Speeding up resettlement towards the target of a hundred thousand people a year has caused a very high increase in the demand for such land, which has risen from 24% of cleared land in the previous to 50% in the current year.

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