Sessional_Paper_1948 — Page 187

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the Police in the district affected. If possible the Social Welfare Officer should be asked to send a representative to help in screening squatters and in dealing with cases of genuine destitutes. Operations should be carefully planned and timed. In the case of Crown land clearance should not take place before the P.W.D. were ready to demolish the buildings affected or to fence the site in. Official action might be deferred on private sites the owners of which were known to be about to build. If the owners were not prepared to build, arrangements should be made to require them to fence in the land which had been cleared. With the cooperation of the Police, P.W.D. and the District Health and Scavenging Inspectorate a mobile squatter patrol should be able to keep the situation within bounds and to ensure that a gradual reduction of the worst sites was effected and maintained.

10. The Committee recommends that Government should take all possible steps to stimulate owners to clear their bomb damaged sites and to rebuild as quickly as possible, since rebuilding is the only real and permanent answer to the squatter problem. If the estimates of the present number of squatters are reasonably correct, rebuilding of war damaged sites should provide more than sufficient accommodation for the present surplus population. Where owners cannot be traced, and the site appears suitable for development, the Committee recommends resumption. If this is too costly, it is recommended that the site should be cleared of bomb rubble by the P.W.D., and that squatter proof fences should be erected. The cost of this could be defrayed by the sale of building material recovered from the site.

11. In addition to energetic measures to force owners to build, the Committee recommends consideration by Government of a scheme prepared by Dr. J. S. Willis, Health Officer, East, for the erection of four storey blocks of workers flats.

А сору of a minute by Dr. Willis dated 18th May, 1948, containing plans of the type of house contemplated and details of his scheme is attached. The Committee agree in principle with his proposal that land should be made available on favourable terms to private concerns which are prepared to build blocks of houses of the type suggested and to rent them for a specified period at controlled rentals to tenants approved by Govern- ment as a result of screening by the Social Welfare Officer. If such a scheme is con- sidered feasible and acceptable to Government, Dr. Willis' proposals could be considered in greater detail. It is understood that a large scale municipal housing scheme was undertaken recently in Singapore. Detailed information might be valuable to Hong Kong, even if a similar scheme was undertaken here by a private enterprise.

12. Priority lists for the clearance of squatters' sites in Hong Kong and Kow- loon have been drawn up. The general policy would be to work from the most densely crowded sites in the centre of the urban areas outwards. In any given area those sites which provided the greatest health menace and fire risk would be dealt with first. There are numerous squatter settlements on the hillsides in Causeway Bay, North Point, Quarry Bay and Shaukiwan areas. It is proposed that action against such sites which are away from densely populated urban areas and which do not constitute a serious health or fire menace should be deferred until the urban areas have been cleared.

13. A press campaign conducted both in the English and Chinese press giving photographs and details of the insanitary conditions of the squatter settlements, ac- counts of conditions at the controlled site at Tsat Tse Mui and an outline of Govern- ment policy towards squatters is recommended.

14. Cost of Recommendations. If the general policy outlined above is adopted the cost (apart from Dr. Willis' housing scheme) will be small. A certain amount of unused Crown land will be alienated. It will be necessary to build latrines, to lay on water and provide channelling for surface drainage at the approved sites. Four ad- ditional Foremen Class III will be required to supervise the licensed squatting sites at an estimated cost of $5,400.00 for the remainder of the financial year. Expenses will also arise in connection with cement and other materials for the latrines and drainage channels but labour can be supplied by the Sanitary Department. Detailed estimate of the cost of laying on water will have to be obtained from Hon. Director of Public Works if the scheme is approved in principle but it is not expected to be a very large item. Approval of the free use by squatters of water from Government mains to be