ENG-1963 — Page 231

LAND AND HOUSING

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or more, living together in a closely-packed mass, with their own shops and schools, and even factories and workshops. Sanitation was primitive or non-existent, there were frequent fires and a constant threat of epidemic disease. Moreover the presence of the squatters on the land made it impossible to solve the very problems to which their presence had given rise. The houses, schools and hospitals needed for this swollen population could not be put in hand because the land required for their construction was occupied by squatters.

The first attempt to solve the squatter problem was made in 1948 when persons occupying land in the centre of the city were moved to more outlying areas, which it was then thought would not need to be redeveloped for some time. Later, 'approved re- settlement areas' were established where dwellings were required to be built of stone or other fireproof materials to an approved pattern. These tolerated areas had the disadvantage that they re- produced many of the unsatisfactory features of the squatter areas, while the majority of squatters were too poor to be able to build or purchase the type of cottage required. This difficulty was partly overcome by the construction of cottages by welfare organizations which rented them to approved settlers, either direct or through the Government, or accepted payment for them by instalments. But the fundamental objection remained that this form of resettle- ment was uneconomic in both land and money and could not be used on a scale which would make real impact on the squatter problem as a whole.

In 1954, after a disastrous squatter fire at Shek Kip Mei in which 53,000 people lost their homes, there was a drastic change in policy. A Resettlement Department was set up, under the general control of the Urban Council, to co-ordinate the duties of squatter control and clearance which had previously been under- taken by several different departments. Government funds were then provided to build multi-storey accommodation blocks into which squatters could be resettled. These blocks, designed and built by the Public Works Department, were kept as simple as possible so that they could be put up quickly and then let at rents which the squatters could afford.

Basically each new building was in the form of an 'H' with communal washing and latrine facilities on each of the seven floors.