Resettlement_Department_Annual_Report_1968-1969 — Page 29

Mark III) and by the end of the financial year 1967-68, 142 Mark III blocks had been built, at Kwai Chung in the New Territories at Chai Wan and Tin Wan on Hong Kong Island, and at Yau Tong, Sau Mau Ping and Tsz Wan Shan in north-east Kowloon. The fundamental difference in the new design is that access to the rooms is by a central corridor on each floor and not from a communal verandah. Each room also has a small private balcony and instead of communal latrines, lavatories are shared between two or three families (each of which has a key and a direct interest in keeping the facility clean). There are also refuse chutes at the end of each corridor, and whereas tenants previously had to arrange privately with contractors to fit power and light points in their rooms, these are now installed by Government in the course of construction.

61. A considerable change in the appearance of the estates was made in 1965 by the introduction of the Mark IV blocks. These are sixteen storeys in height, and are equipped with lifts. The rooms were further improved by the provision of an individual water tap and private lavatory on the balcony of each room. These innovations have brought the standard of accommodation for the new tenants very close to that afforded to the residents of Government Low Cost Housing estates, the main differences being in the width of rooms and the quality of the finish. By the end of the financial year 65 Mark IV blocks had been built; a typical plan may be seen at Appendix 12.

62. The Mark IV design was in turn superseded by a Mark V. This is a modification of the Mark IV with a greater variety in the sizes of rooms, and with the proportions of rooms of different size matching more closely the sizes of the families resettled. The first Mark V block was completed in Ngau Tau Kok in August 1967 and further blocks are under construction in Ngau Tau Kok, Sau Mau Ping, Tsz Wan Shan and Shek Lei estates. At the end of March, the number of completed Mark V blocks stood at 30.

63. A point of interest is the growing speed with which each new design becomes obsolete. The 146 Mark I blocks were completed during a period of 86 months from October 1955 to November 1961; the 94 Mark II blocks in 54 months from May 1960 to October 1964; the 142 Mark III blocks in 38 months from February 1964 to March 1967; and the earliest of the 65 Mark IV blocks, which in turn have become obsolescent, only date from April 1965. Even the Mark V design will soon be replaced by the still later Mark VI design, whose

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