104. During the year, the factory section carried out 570 field inspections of machinery in squatter factories under consideration for resettlement. The Division also advised on floor-loading and electrical requirements of industrial undertakings prior to their resettlement, supervised the installation of their machinery in the new factories, and advised on applications to install new machinery or change trade.
105. The division's strength, particularly of the electrical section, steadily increased during the year to cope with the continued growth of its responsibilities. It has been necessary to reorganize into four sections under the direct control of the maintenance surveyor, i.e. electrical, factory, estate and cottage/resite areas sections. The electrical section is under the control of an assistant electrical engineer seconded from the Public Works Department. The factory, estate and cottage/ resite areas sections are each under the control of a resettlement officer (technical). A technical area officer is in charge of a small main- tenance team in each estate to supervise day-to-day maintenance and such works as are carried out by the maintenance contractor. The drawing office is under the charge of the Resettlement Officer (Technical) who also controls the cottage/resite areas. The computors' office is under the control of the Maintenance Surveyor.
CHAPTER 10
FINANCE
106. Settlers in cottage areas pay quarterly permit fees for the sites they occupy. The amount is laid down in the Resettlement Regulations 1958, and varies according to the size of the site and the location of the area; for a typical site of 160 square feet the permit fee is $5 a quarter in outlying areas and $15 a quarter in the more central areas. If the permittee does not own the premises he is living in, he also pays rent either to the Government or to a welfare agency, or a hire-purchase instalment to a private owner. Rents for Government owned cottages are $10 or $15 a month according to location.
107. The Government's policy in fixing rents in domestic estates is to recover the original capital cost, including land at one-third of market value, amortized over 40 years at a rate of 31% compound interest per annum plus all annually recurrent expenditure, including the cost of administration and of maintenance of the premises. In 1954 the cost of construction, including site formation and piling, of a seven- storey block containing 432 rooms, each of 120 square feet, was
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