Resettlement_Department_Annual_Report_1966-1967 — Page 25

Resettlement Departmental Reports 徙置事務處年報 All

fore be planned to avoid wastage of manpower. It is not unusual for staff of the sub-division to be engaged in 40 to 50 clearance areas at any one time.

Interdependence of clearances

49. It is sometimes found that, because of the configuration of the ground or the need for ancillary work on roads, drains and services for newly developed areas, it is necessary to phase a particular clearance in with another one.

50. After determining relative priorities, the sub-division draws up a fortnightly schedule of clearance for the information of the government departments and public utilities concerned. This schedule sets out the areas to be cleared and the estates in which the people will be resettled. This is an almost continuous process, for the clearance programme must be flexible and clearance dates are often changed due to unpredictable factors such as a sudden demand for resettlement accommodation, perhaps as the result of a natural disaster occurring in a cottage area, or the urgent need to clear land for a public purpose, or owing to unfore- seen delays in completing the construction of particular resettlement blocks.

SCREENING AND CLEARANCE

51. The structures found in clearance areas 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. Others may be occupied by only one or two families maintaining a reasonably high standard of living. Some clearance areas may have a high propor- tion of small-scale industries, and shops will be found in many areas. Each of these premises has to be inspected to determine its resettlemnet eligibility. The occupants are often as varied in their educational back- ground and financial resources as the uses to which buildings are put, and a different approach is needed for each.

52. The first step in clearing a squatter area is the survey and tabula- tion of huts. In order to ensure that only genuine residents are given resettlement, it is necessary to discourage the influx of interlopers (known in resettlement jargon as 'impostors") and notices are posted in the clearance area to warn impostors who may move into the area that they

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