Resettlement_Department_Annual_Report_1963-1964 — Page 37

tion in commercially owned property. Some settlers in the older blocks were willing to transfer to the new despite the increased charges they would have to meet.

91. The rents of shops and workshops in estates are determined by the size and location of the premises. There are four location-grades and shops enjoying the best situations, adjoining main roads or hawker markets, are charged more than those less advantageously placed. Shops in the Mark I and II estates range from 120 to 310 square feet, and the rent (including rates) of a shop of 120 square feet varies from $40 to $100 depending on the grade. As with domestic rooms, Mark III estate shop rents are higher, a Grade A shop of 120 square feet in the urban area being charged $124.50 a month.

92. Rents of units in a resettlement factory are calculated on a cost basis, as with domestic rooms, but the capital cost includes the full upset price of the land, and is amortized in twenty-one years with compound interest at 5% per annum. Here again, rates are included in the rent payable by the tenants and are paid ‘en bloc' by the department. In the older factories rentals per unit of 198 square feet vary from $75 a month on the ground floor to $45 on the top floor, and in the newer factories from $120 to $65 for a unit of 256 square feet.

93. Public Works Department capital expenditure on multi-storey estates and factories, including buildings, site formation, piling and engineering works, amounted to $88,482,027 during the year: expenditure under this head has totalled $332,887,343 in the first decade of the Resettle- ment Department's existence. The department's annual recurrent expendi- ture has grown from $1,907,431 in 1954-55 to $14,041,776 in 1963-64 (including $916,000 spent on maintenance of estates and improvements to amenities), while receipts for the year amounted to $24,570,404 as against $1,249,425 in 1954-55. Particulars are given at Appendix VIII.

CHAPTER XI

ORGANIZATION AND STAFF OF THE RESETTLEMENT DEPARTMENT

ORGANIZATION AND STAFF

94. The organization of the department as at 31st March, 1964 may be seen from the chart at Appendix IX. There are five divisions, described briefly as follows:

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