18. Good progress was made in the programme of relief of overcrowd- ing in the old estates, more than 42,000 people being thus reaccommodated in the same or new estates. Other notable developments were the opening of the first of the experimental large freestanding or annexe restaurants, at Ham Tin estate; the replacement of the unsatisfactory, if familiar, mobile clinics in estates by clinics in the blocks themselves; and the beginning, at Hung Hom estate, of a phased programme for renewing all the old wiring for domestic supply in the earlier estates. This programme is being carried out by the Public Works Department and is made necessary because the original wiring, which was not installed by Government, has become potentially dangerous. An extra charge of $1 a month will be made on the room rent to recoup the cost of the programme.
19. The Housing Board met regularly throughout the year and com- pleted its third report in October 1967. The board's main recommendations regarding resettlement were, firstly, that the balance between the Reset- tlement and Government Low Cost Housing building programmes should be adjusted to provide enough accommodation for 550,000 adults in Resettlement and 440,000 in Government Low Cost Housing estates between April 1967 and March 1973; and secondly, that the possibility of converting Mark I and II resettlement blocks into self-contained flats should be investigated. Government was studying these recommendations at the end of March.
20. Mr. D. C. BARTY, O.B.E., who had been Commissioner for Resettlement since 1963, left the department on retirement in March and was succeeded by Mr. J. P. ASERAPPA. Mr. ASERAPPA had previously been Commissioner from 1958 to 1961.
CHAPTER 2
CONSTITUTIONAL
LEGISLATION
21. The legal powers of the Resettlement Department derive from the Resettlement Ordinance, Cap. 304, and Regulations made thereunder, which replaced the Emergency Regulations previously in force. The Ordinance defines a squatter as 'any person who occupies any land with- out lawful authority or without the consent of the person entitled to the beneficial occupation of such land', and goes on to define an unlawful
8
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.