Tens of thousands of squatters are in danger from landslides because the Government has not found housing for them.
The Civil Engineering Office said 20,000 people had been registered as waiting to be moved from flimsy huts. They were only a small proportion of those in danger, but there was no point adding them to the lengthy public housing waiting list.
'We could increase our rate considerably, but what's the point if they can't be rehoused?' said Principal Government Geotechnical Engineer Andrew Malone.
He said the office pledged a 'very, very small' $10 million of its $1.3 billion budget to clear squatters from treacherous hillsides, but money was not the problem. 'The critical issue is rehousing.' A concerted effort by the department could clear all those in danger of landslides before the onset of the wet season this year, he said.
But they would then be homeless and would jump the queue, disrupting the complex housing priority system.
'Even if they are at risk, it wouldn't be fair if we put them in over the others on the list.' The department yesterday released results of two independent reports on fatal landslides last year, at the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery in Sha Tin, and a squatter's house at 26 Kau Wa Keng Upper Village, Kwai Chung.