ENG-1957 — Page 229

LAND AND HOUSING

195

Kip Mei fire occurred, in which over 50,000 persons were made homeless in a few hours. The decision was then taken to embark on a vast programme for the construction from public funds of multi-storey resettlement estates. No limit was set to the size of this programme, the policy being to continue to build as fast as sites and funds could be made available. In the 3 years since this decision was taken, multi-storey buildings with accommodation for nearly 140,000 persons have been completed at a cost of $54,000,000 out of a total capital outlay by the Government of some $70,000,000 since the beginning of 1952.

These seven-storey buildings are divided into rooms of different sizes from 86 square feet to 240 square feet, the majority being of 120 square feet for a family of five persons. Communal latrines, washing spaces and bathing cubicles are provided on each floor and there is electricity and a piped water supply. Rents have been calculated so that revenue from this source should not only cover all annually recurrent, costs but should also provide for the recovery of the original capital cost, including all engineering works and a nominal figure of $10 a square foot for the land, in 40 years_with interest at 31%. On this basis the rent for a 120 square foot room works out at $14 a month. A higher rent is charged for ground floor rooms used for business purposes, such as shops of many kinds, restaurants and workshops. An aver- age size seven-storey resettlement building will house about 2,500 persons, while a large estate will have a population of between 40,000 and 65,000 persons. Three estates have already been completed, three more are under construction, and preliminary plans for another five have been approved in principle.

The administration of large multi-storey estates presents special problems, partly because of their size and partly because of the poor circumstances of their inhabitants, few of whom are in regular employment. Resettlement has, how- ever, solved the housing problem for these people and there