XN000022-1997-04-09 — Page 31

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(a)

(b)

(c)

Answer:

Mr President,

of the public rental housing (PRH) estates and Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) estates under the management of the Housing Authority which are situated on newly reclaimed land at present;

whether the Housing Department (HD) has carried out periodic inspections on the PRH estates and HOS estates mentioned in the answer to (a) above, and whether the HD has earmarked funds for tackling subsidence cases that may occur; why not; and

whether, apart from the subsidence in Yau Oi Estate, the HD has come across subsidence cases in other PRH estates and HOS estates in the past three years; if so, of the number of such cases in each of the three years as well as the names of the PRH estates and HOS estates concerned?

There are 60 estates constructed on newly reclaimed land: 24 public rental housing (PRH) estates, 23 Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) estates and 13 Private Sector Participation Scheme (PSPS) estates. Details are at the attached table.

Reclaimed land is subject to settlement. This is allowed for in the design and construction stage of Housing Authority estates. Subsequent soil subsidence should not affected the structural safety of these buildings.

The structural condition of PRH and HOS estates managed by the Housing Department is regularly inspected by professional staff. PSPS and HOS estates managed by private agencies are inspected by qualified people concerned.

For PRH estates, expenditure relating to remedial work as a result of subsidence is met from the Housing Department's funds for general maintenance and repair. For HOS and PSPS estates, such expenditure is charged to the maintenance and repair accounts of the management funds of individual estates.

In the past three years, apart from the incident at Yau Oi Estate, there have been two other cases of ground subsidence in On Ning Garden (Tseung Kwan O) and Siu Hei Court (Tuen Mun).