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Category No. of Units (4) Development clearances (a) cottage areas 20,000 (b) metropolitan area squatters 100,000 (c) New Territories squatters 20,000 (5) Re-use of licensed areas 120,000 (6) Relief of overcrowding in resettlement estates 180,000 (7) Pavement dwellers 1,000 500,000MR. SALES:-Mr. Chairman, to what extent does the 77,240 figure given by the Commissioner represent the old structures and what are new structures which have surreptitiously been put up in the interval?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-77,240 structures are all registered pre 1964 structures. Any new structures built since have been subsequently demolished, repeatedly many times in some cases.
MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, does the Commissioner include all the squatters living in Ngau Tau Kok Resettlement Estate?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-Those are hawkers, I believe, Sir.
MRS. ELLIOTT:-I am sorry, Mr. Chairman, may I clarify? They are squatters.
MR. LO TAK-SHING:-Mr. Chairman, I must say I am rather depressed, frightened really. Do you mean to say that today, apart from squatters, there are half a million people who are eligible for resettlement but who haven't been resettled? After six years do you mean that these people are today eligible, or expect to be eligible. Take for example compassionate cases and victims of natural and other disasters, do you mean that these victims are here today, are they already victims. If today half a million people are waiting for resettlement and are eligible for it, how many will there be in 1976? I am really rather depressed.
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-All estimates are based on assumptions, Sir.
MR. LO:-I thought answers were based on questions.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Mr. Chairman, I didn't hear Mr. Lo quite correctly. Did he say impressed or depressed?
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MR. LO:-Very depressed because I don't think really, Mr. Chairman, this is an answer to this question, Mr. SALES' question. How many people are there in other categories eligible for resettlement who are still waiting for accommodation?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-Well, the answer is "I don't know", Sir.
MR. LO:-Well, I must say that has the advantage of being briefer.
CHAIRMAN:-Mr. Lo, what the Housing Board has said amplifies those categories in addition to squatters who might be eligible in the next few years for resettlement.
MR. LO:-Well I think it is a very good answer to what might happen in the next six years, but it is a very bad answer to the people there today.
MR. SALES:-May I ask a supplementary question on Part (a), before I go to part (b). There were nearly 90,000 structures which were registered at the time of the Working Party's report, so only 12,467 structures have been cleared for resettlement. Are we to understand that the impact of our clearances is so small that there are still 77,240 left for clearance?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-There are still 77,240 structures tolerated up to date.
MR. SALES:-Tolerated for various reasons or because the land is not required for redevelopment?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-Mainly because the land is not required for redevelopment.
MR. LO:-Mr. Chairman, may I ask a supplementary on (b) again?
CHAIRMAN:-I don't think Mr. SALES has cleared (a) yet, Mr. Lo.
MR. SALES:-Mr. Chairman, the point I am making in asking these questions is that no matter how impressive our programme may have been, we have made very little impact on the total problem of housing. This is in a nutshell what I am trying to prove with my questions today and the answers that have been given me so far only serve to prove my point. No matter how impressive the programme has been in the way of construction of these structures, yet the dent on the whole problem is not as great as we would like it to be. This is the point. Now part (b) referred to the other categories apart from the squatters, and I would yield the floor to my friend Mr. T. S. Lo to ask supplementaries before I do.
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Category
(4) Development clearances
No. of Units
(a) cottage areas
*
20,000
(b) metropolitan area squatters
100,000
(c) New Territories squatters
20,000
(5) Re-use of licensed areas
120,000
(6) Relief of overcrowding in resettle-
ment estates
180,000
(7) Pavement dwellers
1,000
500,000
MR. SALES-Mr. Chairman, to what extent does the 77,240 figure given by the Commissioner represent the old structures and what are new structures which have surreptitiously been put up in the interval?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-77,240 structures are all reg- istered pre 1964 structures. Any new structures built since have been subsequently demolished, repeatedly many times in some cases.
MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, does the Commissioner include all the squatters living in Ngau Tau Kok Resettlement Estate?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-Those are hawkers, I be- lieve, Sir.
MRS. ELLIOTT:-I am sorry, Mr. Chairman, may I clarify? They are squatters.
MR. LO TAK-SHING:-Mr. Chairman, I must say I am rather de- pressed, frightened really. Do you mean to say that today, apart from squatters, there are half a million people who are eligible for resettle- ment but who haven't been resettled? After six years do you mean that these people are today eligible, or expect to be eligible. Take for example compassionate cases and victims of natural and other disasters, do you mean that these victims are here today, are they already victims. If today half a million people are waiting for resettlement and are eligible for it, how many will there be in 1976? I am really rather depressed.
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT: -All estimates are based on assumptions, Sir.
MR. LO: I thought answers were based on questions.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Mr. Chairman, I didn't hear Mr. Lo quite correctly. Did he say impressed or depressed?
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MR. Lo:-Very depressed because I don't think really, Mr. Chairman, this is an answer to this question, Mr. SALES' question. How many people are there in other categories eligible for resettlement who are still waiting for accommodation?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-Well, the answer is "I don't know", Sir.
MR. Lo:-Well, I must say that has the advantage of being briefer.
CHAIRMAN:-Mr. Lo, what the Housing Board has said amplifies those categories in addition to squatters who might be eligible in the next few years for resettlement.
MR. LO: Well I think it is a very good answer to what might happen in the next six years, but it is a very bad answer to the people there today.
MR. SALES: --May I ask a supplementary question on Part (a), before I go to part (b). There were nearly 90,000 structures which were registered at the time of the Working Party's report, so only 12,467 structures have been cleared for resettlement. Are we to understand that the impact of our clearances is so small that there are still 77,240 left for clearance?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT: ---There are still 77,240 struc- tures tolerated up to date.
MR. SALES: -Tolerated for various reasons or because the land is not required for redevelopment?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:--Mainly because the land is not required for redevelopment.
MR. LO:--Mr. Chairman, may I ask a supplementary on (b) again?
CHAIRMAN: I don't think Mr. SALES has cleared (a) yet, Mr. Lo.
MR. SALES: Mr. Chairman, the point I am making in asking these questions is that no matter how impressive our programme may have been, we have made very little impact on the total problem of housing. This is in a nutshell what I am trying to prove with my questions today and the answers that have been given me so far only serve to prove my point. No matter how impressive the programme has been in the way of construction of these structures, yet the dent on the whole prob- lem is not as great as we would like it to be. This is the point. Now part (b) referred to the other categories apart from the squatters, and I would yield the floor to my friend Mr. T. S. Lo to ask supplementaries before I do.
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