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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
(7) DR. A. M. S. BELL asked the following question:
Could the Chairman please state:
(a) How many families and how many persons in the resettlement estates and cottage areas are at present living at densities under 16 sq. ft. per adult and at 16 to 18 sq. ft. per adult?
(b) What steps are being taken to ensure that these families are given at least the minimum allocation of 24 sq. ft. per person?
MR. LI YIU-BOR, CHAIRMAN OF THE RESETTLEMENT MANAGEMENT SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows:-
I should like first to make it clear that resettlement accommodation is allocated initially on the basis of 24 sq. ft. per adult for rooms in multi-storey blocks and 35 sq. ft. per adult in cottages. Persons aged 10 years and upwards count as adults for this purpose, while children below that age count as half. Accommodation in multi-storey blocks is always allocated initially at not less than 24 sq. ft. per adult. In practice, that figure is frequently exceeded, since it is not always possible to allocate a room of exactly the right size.
The figures requested in the first part of the question are as follows, as at the end of July 1966:-
(a) in Resettlement estates, 2,818 families comprising 20,539 persons were living at densities of less than 16 sq. ft. per adult. 5,710 families comprising 43,409 persons were living at densities of between 16 and 18 sq. ft. per adult;
(b) in cottage areas, 203 families comprising 1,968 persons were living at densities of less than 16 sq. ft. per adult. 526 families comprising 4,440 persons were living at densities of between 16 and 18 sq. ft. per adult.
The answer to the second part of the question is that the present programme for relief of overcrowding in the estates operates where the density in a room falls below 16 sq. ft. per adult. Relief of overcrowding ranks fifth in the list of resettlement priorities laid down under the 1964 White Paper entitled "Review of Policies for Squatter Control, Resettlement and Government Low-Cost Housing". Even so, larger rooms were provided in 1964-65 for 2,413 families comprising 16,810 persons; in 1965-66 for 2,904 families comprising 18,972 persons; and from April to July this year for 847 families comprising 5,904 persons. Present indications are that relief of overcrowding is just about keeping pace with the monthly rate of new families reaching a density of 16 sq. ft. per adult. We are still saddled with a backlog of overcrowded families, most of whom are in the older estates which they are reluctant to leave, usually because the adults have employment or the children are attending schools in the vicinity.
There is at present no programme for relieving overcrowding in cottage areas. The need for such a programme is much less pressing than in the estates, both in terms of the numbers involved, and in view of the comparative spaciousness of these areas, some of which may in any case not survive much longer. Nevertheless, as the figures indicate, this is becoming a problem which will have to be considered and I understand from the Commissioner for Resettlement that he proposes to put forward his recommendations before long. The position is complicated by an even more liberal policy on additions to households than prevails in the estates, by the fact that many cottagers have in the past converted part of their premises into shops, and by the fact that many cottages are owned by their occupants.
DR. BELL:- Mr. Chairman, may I ask a supplementary question? When the answer says "relief of overcrowding ranks as five in the list of priorities", how many priorities are there in fact?
CHAIRMAN: Seven I believe.
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:- I have not got my paper here. It is either six or seven-I think the one coming after relief from overcrowding is pavement dwellers. I cannot remember.
MR. SALES:- Pavement dwellers, if I remember, come before overcrowding. The police insisted on that.
DR. BELL:- Mr. Chairman, that obviously makes it very low down in the list of priorities. It sounds alright when it says fifth, but in fact it is second from the bottom. Mr. Chairman, may I ask if this answer can be attached, or can be forwarded to the Secretariat for attachment to the paper which the Resettlement Policy Select Committee put forward to be forwarded to the Executive Council when the SALES Report is considered?
MR. MARDEN:- Formula?
DR. BELL: SALES Formula, I beg your pardon.
219
Page 122 of 279
of 279
Page 122 of 279
Page 122 of 279
218
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
(7) DR. A. M. S. BELL asked the following question:
Could the Chairman please state:
(a) How many families and how many persons in the resettlement estates and cottage areas are at present living at densities under 16 sq. ft. per adult and at 16 to 18 sq. ft. per adult?
(b) What steps are being taken to ensure that these families are given at least the minimum allocation of
24 sq. ft. per person?
MR. LI YIU-BOR, CHAIRMAN OF THE RESEttlement MaNAGEMENT SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows:-
I should like first to make it clear that resettlement accommo- dation is allocated initially on the basis of 24 sq. ft. per adult for rooms in multi-storey blocks and 35 sq. ft. per adult in cottages. Persons aged 10 years and upwards count as adults for this purpose, while children below that age count as half. Accommodation in multi-storey blocks is always allocated initially at not less than 24
2.
3.
sq. ft. per adult. In practice, that figure is frequently exceeded, since it is not always possible to allocate a room of exactly the right size.
The figures requested in the first part of the question are as follows, as at the end of July 1966:-
(a) in Resettlement estates, 2,818 families com- prising 20,539 persons were living at densities of less than 16 sq. ft. per adult. 5,710 families comprising 43,409 persons were living at densities of between 16 and 18 sq. ft. per adult; (b) in cottage areas, 203 families comprising 1,968 persons were living at densities of less than 16 sq. ft. per adult. 526 families comprising 4,440 persons were living at densities of between 16 and 18 sq. ft. per adult.
The answer to the second part of the question is that the present programme for relief of overcrowding in the estates operates where the density in a room falls below 16 sq. ft. per adult. Relief of overcrowding ranks fifth in the list of resettlement priorities laid down under the 1964 White Paper entitled "Review of Policies for Squatter Control, Resettlement and Government Low- Cost Housing". Even so, larger rooms were provided in 1964-65 for 2,413 families comprising 16,810 persons; in 1965-66 for 2,904 families comprising 18,972 persons; and
4.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
219
from April to July this year for 847 families comprising 5,904 persons. Present indications are that relief of overcrowding is just about keeping pace with the monthly rate of new families reaching a density of 16 sq. ft. per adult. We are still saddled with a backlog of overcrowd- ed families, most of whom are in the older estates which they are reluctant to leave, usually because the adults have employment or the children are attending schools in the vicinity.
There is at present no programme for relieving over- crowding in cottage areas. The need for such a pro- gramme is much less pressing than in the estates, both in terms of the numbers involved, and in view of the comparative spaciousness of these areas, some of which may in any case not survive much longer. Nevertheless, as the figures indicate, this is becoming a problem which will have to be considered and I understand from the Commissioner for Resettlement that he proposes to put forward his recommendations before long. The position is complicated by an even more liberal policy on additions to households than prevails in the estates, by the fact that many cottagers have in the past converted part of their premises into shops, and by the fact that many cottages are owned by their occupants.
DR. BELL:-Mr. Chairman, may I ask a supplementary question? When the answer says "relief of overcrowding ranks as five in the list of priorities", how many priorities are there in fact?
CHAIRMAN: Seven I believe.
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-I have not got my paper here. It is either six or seven-I think the one coming after relief from overcrowding is pavement dwellers. I cannot remember.
MR. SALES: -Pavement dwellers, if I remember, come before overcrowding. The police insisted on that.
DR. BELL:—Mr. Chairman, that obviously makes it very low down in the list of priorities. It sounds alright when it says fifth, but in fact it is second from the bottom. Mr. Chairman, may I ask if this answer can be attached, or can be forwarded to the Secretariat for attachment to the paper which the Resettlement Policy Select Committee put forward to be forwarded to the Executive Council when the SALES Report is considered?
MR. MARDEN: -Formula?
DR. BELL: SALES Formula, I beg your pardon.
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