ENG-2010 — Page 282

232 ❘ Infrastructure Development and Heritage Conservation

In May 2009, the Government joined hands with the Hong Kong Housing Society and the Urban Renewal Authority to launch a one-off drive, called Operation Building Bright to alleviate the unemployment situation in the building repair and maintenance industry caused by the financial tsunami and to improve building safety. Owners of old and dilapidated buildings are given financial help and technical advice to carry out repair and maintenance works on their buildings.

A total of $2.5 billion was allotted by the Government and the two organisations to the drive to help repair and maintain about 2 500 buildings and create around 50 000 job opportunities in the construction, repair and maintenance industries.

Owners of buildings that qualify for financial support under the Operation may receive up to 80 per cent of the cost of repairs which must not exceed $16,000. Owner-occupiers aged 60 or above may receive grants to cover the full cost of repairs, subject to a maximum of $40,000.

The Hong Kong Housing Society assisted the Government in administering the $1 billion Building Maintenance Grant Scheme for Elderly Owners. Recipients may also use the money they receive from the scheme to repair their premises or repay their outstanding loans with the Buildings Department, the Urban Renewal Authority or the Hong Kong Housing Society which was spent on building maintenance. The scheme was launched in May 2008. From that date until end-December 2010, a total of 9 212 applications was received, among them 6 844 applications amounting to $181 million were approved.

The Buildings Department continues to serve statutory orders on owners and occupiers of dilapidated buildings requiring them to repair defects in their buildings. In 2010, some 2 246 such statutory orders were served and repairs to 839 buildings were carried out. The department continued removing unauthorised building works (UBWS) during the year using different measures to eliminate them. These included serving statutory notices and statutory removal orders on the owners and occupiers of such structures, preventing the erection of new UBWs and educating the public on the dangers and nuisances caused by such illegal structures.

Major Actions Against UBWs

During the year, 28 613 cases of UBWs were dealt with; 22 903 statutory orders requiring their removal were served and 25 751 UBWs were removed. Some 2 091 cases were adjudicated, resulting in 1544 convictions and fines totalling $5.08 million. A total of 2 609 offenders were prosecuted for failing to comply with the statutory removal orders.

The Buildings Department continued clearing UBWs in 2010. It also removed unauthorised large signboards and UBWs on cantilevered slab balconies from some 166 buildings in 2010. A one-off special operation was launched in August 2010 to remove 2 000 abandoned signboards across the territory to improve the cityscape as well as create new jobs. Over 3 370 abandoned/dangerous signboards were removed or repaired in 2010.