$300 MILLION WORTH OF DEVELOPMENT HELD UP
CCORDING to a recent news-
paper report, more than $300m worth of development work in the Colony is currently being held up. while in many instances developers are facing the prospect of bankruptcy.
Steel beams and other building materials are piling up in the Colony's warehouses as shipments keep coming in.
It is estimated that more than 300 sites have been forced to cease work since September 4 when the Build- ings (Amendments, No. 2) Ordinance, 1964, came into force.
refuse
The amended Ordinance empowers the Building Authority to consent for the commencement of any building works where it appears to him that the building works will cause a total or partial collapse of any adjoining building or other buildings and thus endanger the lives of the tenants.
A spokesman of the Hong Kong Society of Architects said that the present situation was brought on by
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inch internal brick walls. Front and rear facades were covered with mosaic and gemstone. The main entrance hall was floored in marble tile. Teak parquetry flooring was used for all major rooms. American Standard fixtures and accessories were used throughout.
General contractor for the project was the Hung On Construction Co. Sub contractors and suppliers in- ecluded.--
LIFTS: The China Engineers, Ltd. (Mitsubishi).
PAINTS: Duro Paint Manufac-
turing Co. Ltd.
SANITARY FIXTURES:
& Riddle (China) Ltd.
Innis
TILING: W.R. Loxtey & Co. Ltd, (Glamorock).
DOORS: Wilson Building Ma- terials Supply Co.
GAS: The Hong Kong & China Gas Co.
PLUMBING: Sun Hoi Kee.
STEEL WINDOWS & DOORS: Kam Moon Metal Window Co. Ltd.
The entrance hall
beside the shops.
the fact that a large amount of reconstruction work was going on within areas where there were pre- dominantly old buildings not in a good state of repair.
He said the stoppage of work was causing untold hardship to develop. ers, and there was no proper way to settle the situation within the foresee- able future.
He said that the developers who had made arrangements with bank- ers, contractors and building material suppliers were now completely held up.
Those who were relying on build- ing mortgages from bankers were paying enormous amounts of interest. and if would not be surprising if some of them went bankrupt on that account.
He said that in order to get the Colony's development work moving, the Society proposed that tenants be moved out of old dilapidated build- ings.
In order to relieve their hardship Government should set up a fund,
either by a bond issue to the public or by some measure to be imposed any building sites which were likely to endanger such buildings.
on
The spokesman said that such a fund would enable Government to make loans to building owners who could not afford to pay their tenants under the ordinary terms set up by the Tenancy Tribunal.
Under this system the tenants would suffer no hardship as they would receive the full compensation which normally would be awarded by a Tenancy Tribunal.
The old building owners would then be indebted to Government and they should then repay this loan within one or two years with interest.
In this manner the fund need not be a very large one as repayment to the fund would be frequent.
The spokesman said the Society had also proposed that a panel con- sisting of Government and private architects be set up to ascertain whether or not a building should be condemned SO that quick action could be taken.
The spokesman said the views and be communicated to proposals of the shortly.
Government Society would
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