ENG-1957 — Page 234

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HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT

The 23,000 squatters resettled were considerably fewer than those resettled in 1956 because of site formation difficul- ties encountered in the construction of two estates at Hung Hom and Lo Fu Ngam. Since the policy is not to clear land until alternative accommodation is available for the occu- pants, this delay in the completion of multi-storey blocks led in turn to a delay in starting the clearance of a 29-acre site for a very large new estate at Wong Tai Sin (north of Kai Tak Airport). The outlook for next year is, however, hopeful; by the end of 1957 rapid progress had been made in the development of the Wong Tai Sin site, which will house 63,000 persons, and work was about to start on a seventh estate in the Jordan Valley, near Ngau Tau Kok.

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More welfare centres were built in the cottage areas where it was still possible to allocate sites for such purposes. In the multi-storey estates, where no sites can be made available, the practice is to allocate large rooftops with penthouses at either end, together with a certain number of standard rooms on other floors, to charitable organizations willing to conduct Boys' and Girls' Clubs under the supervision of the Social Welfare Office, or Primary Schools under the supervision of the Education Department. Most valuable work of this type is now being done by numerous charitable organizations in the estates and areas.

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Particulars of the population and of the different types of premises in the cottage areas and the multi-storey estates at the beginning and end of 1957 are as follows:

A. Population

1 Jan. 57. 31 Dec. 57.

Cottage Areas

(one-storey buildings)

72,843

76,420

Multi-Storey Estates

(a) 2-storey temporary buildings .. (b) 6- and 7-storey permanent

30,147

15,207

buildings

102,901

137,137

205,891

228,764