10.
(i) the Buildings Ordinance, or,
(ii) the Buildings Ordinance (Application to New Territories) Ordinance
Under the latter, buildings meeting certain criteria (such as size and height) in the New Territories are exempted from the provisions of the Buildings Ordinance including the need to obtain an OP.
There are currently 5,017 domestic houses at Fairview Park, of which 1,357 received OP.
Of the remainder, 3,658 houses came within the purview of the then Buildings Ordinance (Application to the New Territories) Ordinance and were exempt houses. These were issued with certificate of occupation (CO) by the then Buildings Ordinance Office.
The Government confirms that all these houses met all technical standards and safety requirements and were erected in accordance with lease conditions.
There is therefore no question over the legality of their status or the validity of the titles as a result of the exemption.
However, there are two houses which were incorrectly issued with a CO, instead of an OP, owing to an administrative oversight in 1980.
The Government is now taking action to deal with the situation and will be contacting the concerned owners to assure them of the early action.
End
Assistance to retrainees for civil service post considered
The General Grades Office of the Civil Service Branch has been in touch with the Executive Director of the Employees Retraining Board (ERB) to consider what assistance can be given to retrainees within the requirements of the civil service appointment system, as the current training programmes run by the Board are not targeted specifically for employment in the civil service.
This was stated today (Monday) by the Director of General Grades, Mr Cletus Lau, in response to an appeal by workers that they should be considered for appointment to the civil service after the completion of training courses run by ERB.