1972 — Page 89

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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN

CHAIRMAN:-Ladies and gentlemen, before we move to today's agenda, I would like to welcome to the Council Mr. F. K. LI who is standing in for Mr. LUDDINGTON (applause). I would also like to welcome back Mr. KAN and Mr. LIGHTBODY, and trust they had a pleasant holiday (applause).

MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting held on 8th August, 1972 were confirmed.

PAPER

The Chairman laid upon the table the following paper:

(1) Report on the work of the Urban Council and Urban Services Department for the month of August, 1972.

QUESTIONS

(1) MRS. E. ELLIOTT asked the following question:-

(a) How many flood victims were promised resettlement after the floods of the past few months?

(b) How many of these have already been resettled?

(c) Which areas still remain to be resettled, and when may they expect to get it?

COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT replied as follows:-

The answer to the first part of the question is that 16,932 flood victims have been offered rehousing in resettlement or low-cost housing estates since the May/June floods. The Resettlement Department is currently investigating the claims of a further 2,272 persons who claim to have lived in surveyed structures in the areas that were inspected after the June rains and which were thought to be subject to risk of flood or landslide in the event of further very heavy rainfall. These persons will be offered rehousing if their claims are found to be genuine or a site in a licensed area if they are not eligible for housing but found to be genuinely homeless.

The answer to the second part of the question is that 9,152 persons have, so far, been rehoused. 6,867 in resettlement estates and 2,285 in low-cost housing estates.

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The answer to the third part of the question is that the victims who have yet to be rehoused come mainly from the following areas:

(1) Tai Hang Tung

(ii) Chun Fai Terrace

(iii) Ap Lei Chau

They have all been offered low-cost housing and it is expected that they will be rehoused within 3 months.

(Mr. H. M. G. FORSGATE arrived at this point.)

MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, I am very satisfied to hear that these people are going to be resettled within the next three months. I do not know whether I will be ruled out of order if I refer to the last sentence "they have all been offered low-cost housing". In cases where people cannot afford to pay for low-cost housing, do they have the alternative of resettlement?

COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-Mr. Chairman, I would like to try and reply if I can. I think our situation is fairly flexible, and I can only say here that if any particular family is genuinely unable to meet the rental requirement for low-cost housing, we would certainly try to put them into resettlement. But please remember that these people are being offered low-cost housing simply because there are not enough resettlement rooms.

MRS. ELLIOTT:-May I just clarify? I think that only one or two have this problem, but I have come across it.

(Mr. B. A. BERNACCHI arrived at this point.)

(2) MR. HENRY H. L. HU asked the following question:-

Under the present set-up, whose responsibility is it to maintain the cleanness of resettlement estates? Does it make any difference with regard to the spaces inside each block of the resettlement estates and the spaces between the blocks?

MR. PETER C. K. CHAN, CHAIRMAN OF THE RESETTLEMENT SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows:

The Resettlement Department is responsible for all cleansing within resettlement estates. This includes the cleansing of all public spaces inside the blocks, such as communal latrines, staircases, lobbies, and corridors. The Resettlement Department is also responsible for the cleansing of

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