ENG-1959 — Page 20

REVIEW

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time. On this basis, a standard room of 120 sq. ft. rents at $14 a month. Rates are not payable on these rooms.

A brief description of the multi-storey blocks may not be out of place here. The prototype blocks were six storeys high and built in the form of an 'H', the bar of the 'H' being used for communal bathrooms and lavatories for each floor. There have been few modifications to this basic design; but a seventh floor has been added and it has recently been possible to increase the usable space between bearing walls. A single-wing type of block in an 'I' shaped design has been prepared for use on restricted sites where site formation is particularly difficult, and the estate at Lo Fu Ngam is composed entirely of these blocks. Each of the in seven-storey 'H' blocks accommodates about 2,500 persons rooms varying in size from 86 sq. ft. to 240 sq. ft. Electricity is supplied to the public areas of each block and is also available to tenants who wish to install it in their own rooms. The accom- modation is admittedly not all that could be desired, but it meets essential needs and the design is such that the individual units can be combined, when circumstances finally permit, into self- contained flats. This would, of course, result in a substantial improvement in standards.

The largest multi-storey estate accommodates more than 65,000 persons and three others have populations in the region of 40,000. With communities of this size, shops, schools, clinics and other amenities are essential. To meet these demands, the roof-tops of resettlement blocks have been allocated to voluntary agencies for use as schools or boys and girls clubs. Ground floor rooms may be rented out as shops or workshops, and a certain number are now reserved for allocation by the Director of Social Welfare to voluntary organizations for welfare projects. Welfare projects already in operation in the estates include nurseries, family case- work centres, milk bars, children's libraries, and a loan and savings association. The Medical and Health Department has established clinics in the estates, or in their vicinity.

Special attention is given to the education of children living in the resettlement estates. The primary aim of the recent modifica- tion in the design of the multi-storey blocks was to make available ground floor rooms that would be more suitable for classrooms than the roof-tops. A number of rooms in all new estates is set