Sessional_Paper_1948 — Page 185

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REPORT OF INTERDEPARTMENTAL COMMITTEE ON THE

SQUATTER PROBLEM.

1. General. The latest reports from Health Staff indicate that there are approximately 20,000 squatters in Hong Kong and 10,000 in Kowloon. They are squatting on Crown land, War Department land, on roofs of privately owned premises and on privately owned bomb damaged sites. Some of the squatters' shacks are miserable collections of rags and matting. Others are wooden buildings which appear to be mass produced. Surveys show that about 30% of the inhabitants of most squatter colonies are respectable artisans, some of whom have lived in Hong Kong for some years, are gainfully employed and could afford more orthodox accommodation if they could find it. The majority are newcomers to the Colony and many are destitutes or bad characters the Colony could do well without. The overcrowding, the shocking sanitary conditions and the fire risks make early action for dispersal of squatters from urban areas imperative.

2. Legal Position. Regulation 37 made under the Emergency Regulations Or- dinance No. 5 of 1922 gives duly authorised officers the power to demolish and remove any illegal structures whether on Crown land or private land. Officers authorised by Commissioner of Police, Hon. Director of Public Works or Hon. Director of Medical Services can take action in respect of illegal structures on Crown land but as Regulation 37 (2) stands at present only officers authorised by Hon. Director of Public Works can take action in respect of illegal and insanitary shacks on private land. A proposal to give similar powers to Officers authorised by Commissioner of Police and Hon. Director of Medical Services was made by Hon. Director of Public Works at the end of 1946 in 52/461/46 but no legislative action has yet been taken on this proposal. When a bomb damaged building is occupied by squatters, the owner can be required to close the means of ingress or Hon. Director of Public Works can do the work himself in certain cases and recover the costs. The authority for this is the Public Health (Sanitary Provisions) Regulations, 1946, made under the Emergency Regulations Ordinance No. 5 of 1922. It is not clear whether these particular regulations could be used to compel the owner of a building which had been completely demolished to fence it off so as to prevent squatters occupying it before rebuilding starts. If this power does not exist, it is recommended that a regulation to this effect should be made.

3. A point on which Hon. Attorney General might be asked to advise is whether permanent legislative provision might not be made to deal with squatters. So long as Chinese immigration is unrestricted, the squatter problem is likely to recur whenever economic or political conditions in South China are bad and it is recommended that a bill should be introduced (to consolidate the provisions at present made under the Emer- gency Regulations Ordinance. For short term action it is recommended that the existing regulations in a slightly modified form with the two amendments suggested above should be republished by the Governor-in-Council as revised regulations made under the Emergency Regulations Ordinance, 1922. The Deputy Director of Health Services has certified that in his opinion an emergency exists in the grave threat to public health caused by the squatters and has requested the grant of emergency powers. of his minute of 9th June, 1948, is attached.

A copy

4. General Recommendations. It is recognised that forcible eviction alone will not produce results. As soon as squatters are turned out of one site a new settlement will spring up somewhere else. Unless constant watch is kept, squatters will trickle back to a site that has been completely cleared. The only long term solution of the problem is an adequate supply of domestic buildings. Recommendations as to how the building of working class dwellings might be expedited appear later in this Report but as a short term policy the Committee recommends that Government should allot cer- tain areas on which the controlled buildings of squatters' shacks should be officially permitted.

5. To give Government full control and to prevent sub-letting, it is suggested that Superintendent of Crown Lands and Surveys should allocate certain areas agreed upon to the Chairman of the Urban Council on permit and that the Chairman of the Urban Council, through the Health Officers, should issue temporary permits to approved squatters for individual sites within those areas at a small fee. Some of the huts