Resettlement_Department_Annual_Report_1969-1970 — Page 17

(ii) Date for clearance

Before the land can be cleared any private land involved must be resumed, any valid permits cancelled and compensation assessed. Moving house is a considerable upheaval for the squatters concerned and ample time must be allowed them for sorting out such personal problems as finding new jobs and schools. Development of the site must start immediately after clearance in order to avoid leaving the land idle, which might attract new squatting.

(iii) Accommodation

Sufficient accommodation in a suitable estate must be available for each clearance. As land in the central urban areas is now almost fully developed, sites for new resettlement estates are usually found only in the more outlying areas. In principle, squatters are moved to the nearest available estate but quite often the estate is, of necessity, quite a considerable distance from the site cleared.

31. The area is then surveyed to ensure that only genuine residents are given resettlement. Each structure in the clearance area is numbered and the approximate details of the families living there are recorded. Notices are posted to warn anyone who moves in after this survey that they will not be eligible for resettlement. Screening then follows; the particulars of each resident are entered on the statutory screening form, after which a 'White Card' (a Resettlement Department identity card) is issued to the head of each household.

32. About a month before the clearance is due to take place, the clearance officer delivers notices to each family explaining when and where they should pay rent for their new rooms in the estate and the date on which they should move. He also answers any questions, helps to solve problems and arranges for free transport, if required.

33. Eligible factory and workshop operators are allotted units in a resettlement factory provided that their trade is suitable. If their trade is unsuitable they may change it to a suitable one.

34. A new policy for clearing squatter shops came into effect on 28th November, 1969. An eligible shopkeeper on clearance is now offered a cash allowance of $6,000 instead of the allocation of a resettle- ment shop. However if the displaced shopkeeper wishes to continue his

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