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somewhere and found another set of tenants in occupation of the room. I think we have to move slowly in recovering possession of a room which is apparently unoccupied.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:- I certainly was not suggesting by that point, Mr. Chairman, that the Resettlement Department should go post-haste in recovering rooms of tenants who are away on a short trip, but I do feel that in view of the various points which have been mentioned by the Commissioner concerning possessions and so on, that this procedure ought to be reviewed. I think there is a case for reviewing and making it clear to the staff what should be done with possessions which are not recovered within a certain period of time. After all, there must be a statutory responsibility on the part of the Department.
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:- Mr. Chairman, I do not think my staff are in doubt about how long they should retain possessions before they can dispose of them. It is just that I cannot quite recall myself what the period is. I would certainly be quite happy to review the procedure. I would point out, however, that it is flexible and that if the Estate staff had information from neighbours or otherwise that people had in fact departed for good, then the speed with which these various procedures are gone through is quite fast.
MRS. ELLIOTT:- Mr. Chairman, Mr. Lr's reply said that it is normal practice to enquire whether there is hardship involved, that is in the case of arrears of rent. May I ask if this also applies to all evictions or just to arrears of rent?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:- I would not have thought that circumstances of other evictions were such as to necessitate making enquiries of that kind. In fact, eviction or recovery of the room is rarely resorted to, perhaps six or seven times a month. Practically all arise out of arrears of rent. The earlier warnings that are issued can, however, arise from other reasons, such as sub-letting or obstruction and so on. In these cases the question of hardship is hardly likely to arise.
MRS. ELLIOTT:- Mr. Chairman, I ask that question because I would like to ask Mr. BARTY if he is aware that there was recently an eviction for illegal possession. The person evicted was a woman who had just been released from Castle Peak Mental Hospital, and now she can't even get her mental hospital card back for re-admission or for social welfare investigation.
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:- I was not aware of that case, Mr. Chairman.
MRS. ELLIOTT:- I passed it to you Mr. BARTY about ten days ago and I have had no answer.
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COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:- I do not recall the case, but am sure there will be an answer shortly.
MRS. ELLIOTT:- Mr. Chairman, may I ask that in a case like this the greatest urgency be given, because I think it is very serious? The woman was out in the street.
(3) MR. H. CHEONG-LEEN asked the following question:-
(a) Can the Chairman of the Hawkers Select Committee advise how many unlicensed young hawkers under the age of 18 were brought before the Courts, including JP Courts, during the past six months?
(b) Can the Chairman of the Hawkers Select Committee state whether the trend within the next 3 to 5 years is for the number of young illegal hawkers to increase?
(c) Does the Chairman of the Hawkers Select Committee know whether steps are being taken by Government to encourage, and provide training and employment for young illegal hawkers so that they can have another source of income other than that of illegal hawking?
Mr. B. A. BERNACCHI, Chairman of the Hawkers Select Committee, replied as follows:
The answer to the first part of this question is that figures are not available for the number of hawkers under 18 brought before the Courts during the last six months. Figures are, however, available for juvenile cases (that is, juvenile hawkers under 16) brought before the Courts during the six months from July to December 1966. During this period, the Police arrested and charged 1,175 boys and 840 girls under 16 for hawking offences, and the Hawker Control Force, 543 boys and 382 girls, a total of 1,718 boys and 1,222 girls. Although they were charged with different offences including the sale of restricted food and the sale of cooked food, they were, I am given to understand, all unlicensed.
The second part of this question cannot be answered with certainty since many factors are unknown, particularly the future availability of other forms of employment, which in turn will depend, for instance, on the level of activity in different industries. In general, I think it is reasonable to assume that the number of young hawkers will increase in the urban area because of the steadily rising birth rate
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somewhere and found another set of tenants in occupation of the room. I think we have to move slowly in recovering possession of a room which is apparently unoccupied.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-1 certainly was not suggesting by that point, Mr. Chairman, that the Resettlement Department should go post-haste in recovering rooms of tenants who are away on a short trip, but I do feel that in view of the various points which have been mentioned by the Commissioner concerning possessions and so on, that this procedure ought to be reviewed. I think there is a case for reviewing and making it clear to the staff what should be done with possessions which are not recovered within a certain period of time. After all, there must be a statutory responsibility on the part of the Department.
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-Mr. Chairman, I do not think my staff are in doubt about how long they should retain posses- sions before they can dispose of them. It is just that I cannot quite recall myself what the period is. I would certainly be quite happy to review the procedure. I would point out, however, that it is flexible and that if the Estate staff had information from neighbours or other- wise that people had in fact departed for good, then the speed with which these various procedures are gone through is quite fast.
MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, Mr. Lr's reply said that it is normal practice to enquire whether there is hardship involved, that is in the case of arrears of rent. May I ask if this also applies to all evictions or just to arrears of rent?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-I would not have thought that circumstances of other evictions were such as to necessitate making enquiries of that kind. In fact, eviction or recovery of the room is rarely resorted to, perhaps six or seven times a month. Practically all arise out of arrears of rent. The earlier warnings that are issued can, however, arise from other reasons, such as sub-letting or obstruction and so on. In these cases the question of hardship is hardly likely to arise.
MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, I ask that question because I would like to ask Mr. BARTY if he is aware that there was recently an eviction for illegal possession. The person evicted was a woman who had just been released from Castle Peak Mental Hospital, and now she can't even get her mental hospital card back for re-admission or for social welfare investigation.
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-I was not aware of that case, Mr. Chairman.
MRS. ELLIOTT:-I passed it to you Mr. BARTY about ten days ago and I have had no answer.
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COMMISSIONER for ResettleMENT:—I do not recall the case, but am sure there will be an answer shortly.
MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, may I ask that in a case like this the greatest urgency be given, because I think it is very serious? The woman was out in the street.
(3) MR. H. CHEONG-LEEN asked the following question:-
(a) Can the Chairman of the Hawkers Select Committee advise how many unlicensed young hawkers under the age of 18 were brought before the Courts, including JP Courts, during the past six months?
(b) Can the Chairman of the Hawkers Select Committee states whether the trend within the next 3 to 5 years is for the number of young illegal hawkers to increase?
(c) Does the Chairman of the Hawkers Select Committee know whether steps are being taken by Government to encourage, and provide training and employment for young illegal hawkers so that they can have another source of income other than that of illegal hawking?
Mr. B. A. BERNACCHI, Chairman of the Hawkers Select Committee, replied as follows:
The answer to the first part of this question is that figures are not available for the number of hawkers under 18 brought before the Courts during the last six months. Figures are, however, available for juvenile cases (that is, juvenile hawkers under 16) brought before the Courts during the six months from July to December 1966. During this period, the Police arrested and charged 1,175 boys and 840 girls under 16 for hawking offences, and the Hawker Control Force, 543 boys and 382 girls, a total of 1,718 boys and 1,222 girls. Although they were charged with different offences including the sale of restricted food and the sale of cooked food, they were, I am given to under- stand, all unlicensed.
The second part of this question cannot be answered with certainty since many factors are unknown, particularly the future availability of other forms of employment, which in turn will depend, for instance, on the level of activity in different industries. In general, I think it is reasonable to assume that the number of young hawkers will increase in the urban area because of the steadily rising birth rate
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