Resettlement_Department_Annual_Report_1961-1962 — Page 12

(v) Manpower

26. Screening, investigation and arranging the orderly resettlement of the residents, shops and factories, all takes time, so the programme must be planned to avoid wastage of manpower.

(vi) Interdependence of Clearance

27. It is sometimes found that due to the configuration of the ground or to the need for ancillary work in supplying roads, drains and services for newly developed areas it is necessary to carry out a particular clearance at the same times as or before or after another.

28. When relative priorities have been determined, clearances are scheduled for resettlement into future resettlement blocks and a schedule of clearances prepared for the information of the Sections of the Public Works Department concerned with development of the land.

(b) Screening and Clearances

29. The demand for accommodation due to the influx of refugees and natural increase, together with inflated rents of tenement accom- modation gives rise to increased overcrowding of squatter huts. There are instances of between 1,500 and 2,000 people living within one acre of single storey wooden structures. The relative cheapness of resettle- ment accommodation puts a premium on space in these huts as soon as it is known or rumoured that clearance is imminent. A small space of 50 sq ft. may command a price of anything from $500 to $1,000. In such cases, the cubicle is often bought outright from the squatter landlord who realizes that due to the irregularity of his ownership he may expect to receive no more rent for his illegal structures once his tenants have been screened and become eligible for resettlement.

30. Structures found in any clearance area vary greatly. Some are the familiar wooden shacks, others are substantial buildings of stone or even reinforced concrete. Most of the more substantial buildings are on leased agricultural land or in permit areas. Many of these are divided into cubicles and are as crowded as the regular squatter huts. Others may be occupied by only one or two families maintaining a reasonably high standard of living. The great variety of both the use to which the various buildings are put and the classes of occupants—-- from labourers to teachers, from beggars to industrialists-necessitates differences of approach to the individual squatters.

31. The first step in clearing a squatter area is the survey and numbering of huts. In order to ensure that only genuine residents are given resettlement it is necessary to discourage the influx of interlopers

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