-
51.
Supermarkets in public housing and HOS estates
The following is a question by the Hon Fred Li Wah-ming and a written reply by the Secretary for Housing, Mr Dominic Wong, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):
Question:
The report on the study of supermarkets released by the Consumer Council indicates that of the total number of 106 supermarkets in 236 public housing estates and Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) estates in the territory, 80% are run by two large consortia, while supermarkets in remote areas such as New Territories North and Island South are even monopolised by a single operator. In this connection, will the Government inform the Council:
of the criteria adopted by the Housing Department in planning the number of supermarkets in each public housing or HOS estate;
(a)
(b)
of the number of public housing and HOS estates with only one supermarket, together with the locations of these estates;
(c)
(d)
of the number and the locations of public housing and HOS estates with no supermarket, resulting in the residents having to use the supermarkets in nearby public housing or HOS estates; and
what long-term measures the Housing Department will put in place to encourage competition and prevent consortia from monopolising the operation of supermarkets in public housing and HOS estates, so as to safeguard the interests of consumers living in public housing and HOS estates?
Answer
Mr President,
When the Consumer Council conducted the survey in March 1994 on which its report was based, 106 out of a total of 236 public rental housing or Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) estates had one or more supermarkets. By April 1995, there were 123 supermarkets in 243 estates, of which about two-thirds were operated by two major chain-store operators. The remainder were run by smaller chain-store operators or individual retailers.