TNAG-1362-FCO40-1808-Hong-Kong-Hansard-reports-and-minutes-of-the-meetings-of-the-1985 — Page 131

Question No. 12

Speech by the Hon. CHAN Nai-keong, CBE, JP, Secretary for Lands and Works, in answer to question by the Hon. YEUNG Po-kwan, CPM, at Legislative Council on 1 May, 1985

Question: Could Government make a statement on the clearance

of illegal extensions and structures in multi- storey buildings?

Sir,

Statistically, an average of 500 cases involving

clearance of illegal extenions and structures in multi-

storey buildings are dealt with per month by a complement of

55 professional and technical staff in the Control and

Enforcement Section of the Buildings Ordinance Office. Of

this number, about 10% relates to cases where there is a

hazard to life and limb which warrant absolute priority.

The problem of illegal extenions, alterations and

structures in multi-storey buildings has been with us for some twenty years and has become a fact of life in urban Hong Kong. Its proliferation over time has resulted in a current

backlog of 23,000 cases which continues to grow at the rate

of some 800 new cases each month. Unless we can match man-

power resources with the workload, to tackle the problem, it

not only calls for a determined and concerted effort to

contain the problem, but also for a radical examination of our

basic policy objectives of control over illegal building works,

including redefining our priorities in this area e.g. we

should ask ourselves what do we seek to achieve by controlling illegal works which are structurally safe. Additionally,

public attitudes and their understanding of the problem and

the Government's determination to tackle the problem will go

some way towards reducing it to manageable proportions

(although it must be admitted at the same time enforcement

action is never popular with those whose action is being

enforced).