PURPOSE

We intend to seek the approval of the Finance Committee to allocate a sum of $68.84 million to the Lands Department for the demolition of six Temporary Housing Areas and four Cottage Areas. This paper briefs Members on our proposal.

PROPOSAL

2. The Director of Lands (D of Lands), with the support of the Secretary for Housing, will propose to create a new commitment of $ 68.84 million for demolishing structures in the six Temporary Housing Areas, namely Tsing On, Kai Lok , Kai Wo, Kai Yiu, Sha Kok Mei and Long Bin and the four Cottage Areas at Fo Tan, Mt. Davis, So Kon Po and Lai Chi Kok.

JUSTIFICATION

3. The Government has pledged in the Policy Address last year to -

1. clear the remaining old-style Temporary Housing Areas (THAs) by 2000 by rehousing eligible clearees in public housing, including interim housing, in order to improve the living conditions of those affected and to free land for development; and
   
   
2. clear the remaining Cottage Areas (CAs) by 2001 to provide a more satisfactory living environment to resettled households.

4. The Lands Department is responsible for seeking funds for the demolition of the six THAs and four CAs concerned. The Housing Department will act as the clearance and rehousing agent for the Government. Details of the clearance program are given at Annex. Since the affected occupants might vacate individual units whenever they wish, the Housing Department would patrol regularly the vacated structures to minimise fire risk, unauthorized re-occupation, hygiene and security problem. Demolition work will be carried out as soon as all occupants have moved out.

5. The Government will make sure that nobody would be rendered homeless as a result of the clearance operation. Eligible clearees will receive ex-gratia allowances in accordance with the prevailing criteria and allowance rates. They may also be rehoused to public housing including interim housing according to their eligibility.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

6. Clearance costs for the THAs and CAs shall fall into two parts, i.e. the demolition cost of structures and the ex-gratia allowances for clearees. The total sum of ex-gratia allowances is estimated to be $27.32 million which will be provided under separate funding by the Lands Department. The demolition cost of the THAs and CAs is estimated to be $68.84 million.

7. We need to seek approval for the commitment in the current financial year in order to prepare for the clearance programmes of THAs and CAs concerned scheduled for the coming three years.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

8. THAs, an early form of interim housing, provide accommodation for people who are rendered homeless for one reason or another but are not eligible for permanent public housing. Since these THAs comprise old-type low-rise timber structures, the living environment is not satisfactory. Over the years the Government has been making efforts to improve the living environment of the residents. All the THAs built before 1984 have been cleared. The remaining THAs will be cleared by 2000 and replaced by multi-storey concrete blocks and prefabricated interim housing blocks.

9. CAs were established in the 1950s and 1960s to rehouse squatters rendered homeless by natural disasters and immigrants from the mainland of China. They comprise mainly single-storey structures built of stone or less-permanent materials. Residents were given occupation permits but no legal title to the land.


Housing Bureau
November 1998

Annex

Clearance Program of Temporary Housing Areas (THAs) and Cottage Areas (CAs)

	Estimated no. of blocks	Estimated no. of households	Estimated no. of persons	Date of completion (tentative)
Name of THA
Tsing On	6	166	386	December 1999
Kai Lok	46	792	2081	April 2000
Kai Wo	10	179	388	April 2000
Kai Yiu	11	166	445	April 2000
Sha Kok Mei	51	943	2183	May 2000
Long Bin	15	503	726	June 2000
Total	139	2749	6209

	Estimated no. of blocks	Estimated no. of households	Estimated no. of persons	Date of completion (tentative)
Name of CA
Fo Tan	189	135	513	July 2000
So Kon Po	179	161	612	August 2001
Mount Davis	221	184	699	August 2001
Lai Chi Kok	177	202	768	October 2001
Total	766	682	2592