XN000022-1996-09-18 — Page 5

4 -

"The amendments in BMO have empowered owners to oversee the operation of OCs, while OCs are legal entities which will represent owners in carrying out building management duties. With their rights and duties stipulated in the law, owners are able to participate in the management of their own buildings," Mr Suen said.

As the owners were empowered to monitor OCs, Mr Suen stressed that HAD, when dealing with inquiries from owners, could only give advice on how to solve the problems instead of making a decision for the owners. This is to ensure that the rights and duties of the owners are respected.

"Therefore, when conflicts arise, HAD's staff are forbidden by law to judge the cases, nor could they take over the management committee upon complainants' requests because all these would only lead to an adverse impact on the impartiality of the department.

"Monitoring the Management Committee is OCs' duty which should not be taken over by the Government," he said.

"As the owners also have the right to monitor the work of the management committees, they can dissolve the committees when they are poorly-operated and terminate the contract with an inefficient management company."

Mr Suen also noted that owners' active participation in OCs through attending OC meetings and maintaining good communication with OCs is the best way to solve building management problems.

He said of the 1,000 inquiries received by the department each year, about half were complaint cases mainly triggered by disputes between owners and the management company or between owners and the OCs' management committees.

For example, some owners might suspect that someone was trying to take advantage from their management posts, or they had lost confidence in some members of the management committees because of lack of communication.

"However, from our experience, the cause of many complaints was not solely due to the faults of managing members. In most cases, complaints arose because of owners' insufficient knowledge in building management as well as a lack of participation in OC meetings," Mr Suen said.

Reiterating that the owners had the right to monitor OCs, Mr Suen assured that the building management problems could be solved and avoided if the owners could maintain good communication with OCs and be more committed to undertaking their duties in building management issues.

End