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Shek Kip Mei Estate in Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong¡¯s first public housing estate built more than 50 years ago, will be cleared on Tuesday (October 17) to make way for the final phase of the Estate¡¯s redevelopment programme.
A total of 15 seven-storey resettlement blocks comprising 2,176 units in Blocks 14 to 18 and Blocks 25 to 34 in Lower Shek Kip Mei Estate will be cleared. The cleared site is earmarked for public housing development.
The clearance operation this week will be on schedule to complete the task of a four-phased redevelopment programme to clear the old resettlement blocks built in the 1950s and 1960s, the Assistant Director of Housing (Estate Management), Mr Lee Cert-quinn, said today (October 15).
¡°All of the 1,640 households affected by the current clearance exercise have accepted Domestic Removal Allowance ranging from $2,600 for one-person households to $7,520 for households of six or above,¡± Mr Lee said.
¡°Over 99 per cent of the households have been rehoused in nearby estates in the same district. About 10 remaining households agreeing to move out have been given a two-week long grace period and must vacate their units by 1st November,¡± he added.
Block 41( Mei Ho House) will be preserved for its historical value. The Housing Department has been in touch with other government departments to discuss the future plan and usage of the building, which should be congruous with the future development of the entire Shek Kip Mei neighbourhood.
Shek Kip Mei Estate was the first resettlement estate to rise from the ashes of a tragic fire at the Shek Kip Mei squatter fire in 1953 to provide emergency relief for the 50,000 squatters left homeless overnight. The Estate was completed in two phases.
Built between 1954 and 1955, Lower Shek Kip Mei Estate comprises 29 blocks of six to seven storey H-shaped buildings. Each unit has a modest size of about 120 square feet with shared toilet and shower facilities in the central corridors linking the two wings. These blocks were redeveloped into self-contained units in the early 80s.
Upper Shek Kip Mei Estate was built in the 60s comprising seven blocks of 13-storeys high buildings. Every two units shared a toilet. These blocks have already been demolished in the first phase redevelopment programme.
Ends/Sunday, October 15, 2006
Issued at HKT 10:01
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