Page 13 of 242
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
site formation would be expensive, but very much not impossible and I do urge the Government to investigate it now and do not leave it for another ten years.
QUESTIONS.
(1) MR. A. de O. SALES asked the following question:—
(a) Is the Commissioner for Resettlement able to inform this Council how many persons have been housed by his Department in each financial year since the resettlement programme began?
(b) How many does he expect to accommodate in 1971-72 and in each successive year until 1975-76?
THE COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT replied as follows: —
A total of 1,109,256 persons have been housed by the Resettlement Department since its establishment in 1954 up to the end of February 1971. A breakdown into the number of persons resettled in each financial year is as follows:-
Year No. of Persons resettled 1953-54 8,653 1954-55 70,563 1955-56 50,675 1956-57 37,704 1957-58 22,707 1958-59 42,390 1959-60 52,705 1960-61 48,587 1961-62 73,040 1962-63 83,029 1963-64 91,095 1964-65 128,809 1965-66 89,708 1966-67 88,126 1967-68 106,473 1968-69 57,910 1969-70 36,599 1970-71 20,483 (end of February)If the 45,906 persons who were rehoused in the pre 1953 "resettlement areas" were also to be included, the total would have been 1,124,018 persons.
Based on commitments so far known to the department and the amount of accommodation expected to be available in 1971-72, it is probable that about 108,000 persons will be resettled during that year.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
The future programme is reviewed annually by the Governor in Council with the advice of the Housing Board, this Council, the Housing Authority and the government departments concerned. This Council has been invited to comment on the Housing Board's reports each year, and has recently been invited to comment on the Board's latest report for the year 1970 before it is submitted for consideration by the Governor in Council.
MR. SALES: Mr. Chairman, since this answer was drafted, is it known to the Commissioner what number was resettled in the month of March so as to complete the figure for the year ended 31st March, 1971?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT: Mr. Chairman, I have not been able to add up the returns yet. I shall let him know in due course.
MR. SALES: In any case, Mr. Chairman, were the preparations which were made towards the end of February for the resettlement of people in March indicative of a massive addition to this number?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT: I think it is indicative of a massive addition for the next few months, not during the last month, Sir.
MR. SALES: Mr. Chairman, could the Commissioner tell us the reason for the great fall in the number of people resettled since 1967-68?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT: It was the result of some set-back in the building programmes.
MR. SALES: What was the set-back in the building programmes that affected so greatly Government's ability to rehouse people in such great need of accommodation?
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS: Mr. Chairman, perhaps I can answer that. As Members know, it was the failure of the building contractors. I think three of our main building contractors failed in those two years.
MR. SALES: The same building contractors as those who are responsible for swimming pools?
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS: Mr. Chairman, one of them was.
MR. SALES: My next supplementary, Mr. Chairman, is this. How far short of the target in each year was the actual resettlement accommodation which was provided to the people of Hong Kong? By how much did the offer fall short of the target approved by this Council?
CHAIRMAN: Could you say for which years?
Page 13 of 242
42
Page 13 of 242
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
site formation would be expensive, but very much not impossible and I do urge the Government to investigate it now and do not leave it for another ten years.
QUESTIONS.
(1) MR. A. de O. SALES asked the following question:—
(a) Is the Commissioner for Resettlement able to inform this Council how many persons have been housed by his Department in each financial year since the resettlement programme began?
(b) How many does he expect to accommodate in 1971-72
and in each successive year until 1975-76?
THE COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT replied as follows: —
A total of 1,109,256 persons have been housed by the Reset- tlement Department since its establishment in 1954 up to the end of February 1971. A breakdown into the number of persons resettled in each financial year is as follows:-
No. of Persons resettled
Year
1953-54
8,653
1954-55
70,563
1955-56
50,675
1956-57
37,704
1957-58
22,707
1958-59
42,390
1959-60
52,705
1960-61
48,587
1961-62
73,040
1962-63
83,029
1963-64
91,095
1964-65
128,809
1965-66
89,708
1966-67
88,126
1967-68
106,473
1968-69
57,910
1969-70
36,599
1970-71
20,483
(end of February)
If the 45,906 persons who were rehoused in the pre 1953 "resettlement areas" were also to be included, the total would have been 1,124,018 persons.
Based on commitments so far known to the department and the amount of accommodation expected to be available in 1971-72, it is probable that about 108,000 persons will be resettled during that year.
I
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
7
The future programme is reviewed annually by the Governor in Council with the advice of the Housing Board, this Council, the Housing Authority and the government departments concerned. This Council has been invited to comment on the Housing Board's reports each year, and has recently been invited to comment on the Board's latest report for the year 1970 before it is submitted for consideration by the Governor in Council.
MR. SALES: Mr. Chairman, since this answer was drafted, is it known to the Commissioner what number was resettled in the month of March so as to complete the figure for the year ended 31st March, 1971?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-Mr. Chairman, I have not been able to add up the returns yet. I shall let him know in due course.
MR. SALES: In any case, Mr. Chairman, were the preparations which were made towards the end of February for the resettlement of people in March indicative of a massive addition to this number?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-I think it is indicative of a massive addition for the next few months, not during the last month, Sir.
MR. SALES: -Mr. Chairman, could the Commissioner tell us the reason for the great fall in the number of people resettled since 1967-68?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-It was the result of some set-back in the building programmes.
MR. SALES: What was the set-back in the building programmes that affected so greatly Government's ability to rehouse people in such great need of accommodation?
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS:-Mr. Chairman, perhaps I can answer that. As Members know, it was the failure of the building contractors. I think three of our main building contractors failed in those two years.
MR. SALES: The same building contractors as those who are responsible for swimming pools?
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS: Mr. Chairman, one of them was.
MR. SALES: My next supplementary, Mr. Chairman, is this. How far short of the target in each year was the actual resettlement accommodation which was provided to the people of Hong Kong? By how much did the offer fall short of the target approved by this Council?
CHAIRMAN:-Could you say for which years?
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.