ENG-1958 — Page 202

LAND AND HOUSING

169

At the beginning of 1954, after the disastrous Christmas night squatter fire at Shek Kip Mei in which over 50,000 people were made homeless in a few hours, a major change in policy was made. It was decided to construct from public funds large multi- storey resettlement estates as the only practicable solution of the squatter problem, and to set up a Resettlement Department, work- ing under the direction of the Urban Council, to co-ordinate all activities relating to the control and resettlement of squatters. In the five years since that decision was taken multi-storey resettle- ment accommodation has been built by the Government for some 200,000 squatters, at a total capital cost of $80,000,000. The legis- lation under which the Resettlement Department now works is the Resettlement Ordinance, 1958, which is further dealt with in Chapter 12.

These buildings, which are designed and built by the Public Works Department, are of a standard design. They are seven storeys high and divided into rooms varying in size 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 electricity is available in the public areas as well as for all settlers who can afford it. Rents have been calculated to cover-adminis- trative costs and the repayment of all capital costs, 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 of the standard room is $14 a month. Ground floor rooms are let to settlers residing in the estate for use as workshops, or as shops or restaurants, a rent of $100 a month being charged for the standard shop of 240 square feet. The average resettlement block accommodates about 2,500 persons, and the larger estates have a population of between 40,000 and 65,000 persons.

At the end of the year there were six resettlement estates. One of them, Wong Tai Sin Estate, was not yet completed, and further extensions had been planned to three others. In addition work was in progress on the construction of three new estates, at Jordan Valley, Kwun Tong, and Chai Wan, the first estate on the Island, and plans had been approved in principle for a further six estates. The estate blocks have been so designed that the rooms can be readily converted to self-contained flats, and a number of them