1962 — Page 43

Page 43 of 150

HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

neither obstruction nor noise. The department has been pleased to note the success of the industrial training classes in the Wong Tai Sin Community Centre and will co-operate where desirable with any organization providing such training. It should be noted that the Resettlement Department does not operate the Community Centres which come under my friend the Director of Social Welfare. Dr. P. F. Woo's proposal for the training of shop-keepers merits special consideration and it will be discussed with the appropriate authorities.

I am afraid that I cannot agree with Mr. Wilson WANG's belief that there is grave illiteracy in the Estates and that education is largely restricted to unsatisfactory rooftop schools. I have previously pointed out in this Council that the educational opportunities in Resettlement Estates for both primary and secondary education are just the same as anywhere else in the urban area. Rooftop schools are admittedly a unique feature of Resettlement Estates but they are not overcrowded and are certainly superior to many of the small private primary schools and kindergartens which exist elsewhere. The point to remember is that schools know no resettlement boundaries, which means that the children of settlers can attend schools outside and, conversely, the children of non-settlers, schools inside the Estates and Areas.

Mr. Li Yiu-bor questioned the present policy of factory allocations which imposes a limit on size but I can see no satisfactory solution unless a vastly greater amount of factory accommodation is erected to the general detriment of the domestic accommodation programme.

Mr. Wilson WANG suggested that more attention be given to certain social and economic aspects in the administration of the Estates. I am sure my friend the Director of Social Welfare would agree that the Resettlement Estates have a generous share of the welfare services provided by voluntary agencies covering a wide range of facilities from milk bars to youth clubs and rooftop schools. Under the World Refugee Year programme a series of community centres has been planned and the Centre already in existence at Wong Tai Sin is proving of considerable value in integrating the settlers into the general life of the community. In as far as the limited amount of land available allows, provision is made in all Estates for adequate recreation areas.

I am fully alive to the need for adequate training of staff in the department and it is for this reason I have recently instituted a course of training for all newly appointed officers. The course is designed to give the officer an understanding of the work of the department and the background against which it functions. The tasks and duties that face the officers of the department do indeed call for high all-round standards.

HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

Shop rents have been in the news recently and my deepest thanks are due to all Members for the time which they so generously devoted in February to the hearing of appeals from A and B grade shops on the grounds of hardship. I am prepared to agree with Mr. Wilson WANG and Dr. P. F. Woo that there are failings in the present system of shop allocations by ballot but it is questionable whether any other method would prove more satisfactory in the long-run and give a fairer result. The matter is, however, under consideration and will be discussed at an early date in the Select Committee.

Mr. CHEONG-LEEN referred to the situation of telephones in the Estates. I have nothing to add to the statement I made at the Urban Council meeting on 6th June, 1961, in which I stated there was little evidence that settlers were experiencing difficulty in making telephone calls.

Finally, may I say that the department has noted the suggestions of Mr. SALES, Mr. CHEONG-LEEN and Mr. Wilson WANG for better public relations and will welcome any measures that help to bridge any gaps of misunderstanding that exist between the department, squatters on Crown land and settlers.

With these few comments I should like to end by expressing my gratitude for the ready co-operation of all Members of this Council in matters of resettlement which is a matter of such profound importance to the well-being of Hong Kong. I now have much pleasure in supporting the motion before this Council. (Applause).

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS: -Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank Members for their generally complimentary remarks on the efforts of the Public Works Department (Laughter) in regard to the Resettlement programme. These remarks are greatly appreciated by the officers concerned and I would like to pay my tribute to the enthusiasm of the architects, engineers and surveyors who are facing the challenge of providing five hundred thousand resettlement places in five years plus 100,000 low-cost housing places in the same time.

I endorse the views expressed on the need to develop as far as is possible each resettlement estate as a self-contained unit. This is what we have been aiming to do for some time and every estate now being planned has its quota of primary schools, recreation areas, hawker bazaars and shops. In the bigger estates sites are reserved for secondary schools, clinics and community centres.

I am gratified too by the support given to our Low-Cost Housing schemes. I believe that we have found the right solution for the housing of many of the thousands who are not eligible for resettlement. Progress is satisfactory; the Kwun Tong estate, for some 6,000 persons, is well

Page 43 of 150