Special Projects

Nim Shu Wan village on Lantau Island was once abandoned in the 1920s due to disease and insufficient farmland. It was only in the 1950s, when the land was settled again by the refugees, that the village was able to embark on the road to prosperity in the 1970s. The lack of arable land and quality soil raised concerns for KAAA who, in 1955, devised a development plan in cooperation with Nim Shu Wan villagers. The village was issued with cement to construct seawalls and a pier to protect vegetation from sea damage and improve the transportation of produce and farming necessities respectively. Nim Shu Wan villagers established new land by terracing the hillsides. Farmland subsequently increased by three fold in 17 years. KAAA staff regularly visited Nim Shu Wan villagers, and were always on hand to help. Over 10 years since the village received aid, monthly income per head some from $32 to $90, population surged from 60 to nearly 300. Farmland opened up at the foot of Kowloon Peak, which later became Shun Lee Estate.

A huge fire broke out in a squatter area on Castle Peak Road in January 1963. The fire engulfed homes of nineteen squatter families. KAAA relocated victims to a site close to their original homes, and gave them new houses, chickens feed and a fresh start. The village soon thrived and was reputed as a successful chicken raising community.