Resettlement_Department_Annual_Report_1966-1967 — Page 41

the 94 Mark II blocks in 54 months from May 1960 to October 1964; the 141 Mark III blocks in 38 months from February 1964 to March 1967; and the earliest of the 41 Mark IV blocks, which in turn have become obsolescent, only date from April 1965.

79. By 31st March, 1967, the Public Works Department and Hong Kong's building contractors had built 422 multi-storey blocks which contain 178,203 rooms. These figures are impressive, as are those of the populations involved. Although the largest estate managed by the Resettlement Department has long been Wong Tai Sin, with a popula- tion of about 87,000, three of the eight estates which are under develop- ment will soon greatly exceed this figure. Tsz Wan Shan, which began in 1962 and should be finished in 1968, has already overtaken Wong Tai Sin and eventually will be the home of 170,000 people, while two other estates further east beyond Kwun Tong will have populations of 153,000 and 117,000 respectively.

80. Three new estates began to take in tenants during the year under review, bringing the total number to 21. Yuen Long and Shek Lei in the New Territories received their first tenants in July and November respectively, while Shek Pai Wan at Aberdeen began occupation in December. A list of all the estates and their population is in Appendix 1, while Appendix 9 shows the growth in the authorized population of the estates (and also the cottage areas) since 1954.

81. A new development is the decision to introduce a variety of free-standing non-domestic buildings into present and future estates. Separate estate schools have been a feature of the Mark IV estates from their beginning, but estate welfare buildings, restaurants and blocks to contain administrative offices for departmental staff, post offices and banks, are all on the drawing boards. This new departure came about partly because the structural design of the 16-storey buildings makes it impractical to locate these facilities on the ground floor, or schools and welfare facilities on the rooftops; partly because of the need to preserve the reduced number of ground floor rooms for shops.

POPULATION

82. By the end of the year 1966-67, the total number of authorized persons living in the estates was 861,213, which represents an increase of 90,344 during the past twelve months. Appendices 1 and 9 show the detailed figures and also the progressive rise through the years in graphic form. Appendix 5 also shows the same figures divided among the

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