Resettlement_Department_Annual_Report_1962-1963 — Page 12

(iv) Cultivation

23. When this is involved, it is necessary to determine how long it will take to produce a large scale survey plan, identify crops and pay compensation to established cultivators. In addition to this com- pensation, a farmer or pig-breeder with a large scale trade is eligible for a shop site in the estate so that he may have an alternative form of livelihood.

(v) Manpower

24. 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 Clearances

25. 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 time as or before or after another.

26. 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 Sub-departments of the Public Works Department concerned with development of the land.

(b) Screening and Clearances

27. 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. 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 spaces, if let out, once his tenants have been screened and become eligible for resettlement.

28. Structures found in any clearance area vary greatly. Some are the familiar wooden shacks, others are substantial buildings of stone or even of 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.

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