6.
Public housing estates outside Building Department's ambit
It would not be appropriate for the Buildings Department to include public housing estates in its quality audit because buildings under the management of the Housing Authority are exempt from the provisions of the Buildings Ordinance.
The Housing Ordinance empowers the Housing Authority to manage and construct public housing estates.
This was stated by a spokesman of the Buildings Department this (Sunday) morning in response to a petition by a residents concern group from the Valley Road Estate to the Director of Buildings, Mrs Helen Yu, calling on her to include public housing blocks in the department's inspection programme.
The spokesman, however, said Mrs Yu did appreciate the group's concern, and had referred its views to the Director of Housing for her attention.
On the matter of standards of building inspections by building professionals, the spokesman said the method and criteria for structural assessment of danger would be similar, whether carried out by the staff of the Housing Department or the Buildings Department.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Housing Department pointed out that part of the Valley Road Estate had already been included in the Comprehensive Redevelopment Programme, and re-iterated that the Housing Authority would implement a special programme to provide better maintenance and repairs service for all the older estates included in the redevelopment programme.
Under the special repair programme, the Housing Department would undertake comprehensive inspection of flat conditions instead of relying on tenants' complaints and reports. The assessment result would be frequently reviewed to ensure that remedial action could be taken immediately if building safety suddenly deteriorated, the spokesman added.
End/Sunday, August 6, 1995
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