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Following is a question by the Hon Fred Li and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Ms Eva Cheng, in the Legislative Council today (January 16):
Question:
The Housing Authority decided in June 2003 that new public rental housing ("PRH") units would no longer be provided with metal gates. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the names of the completed PRH estates the units in which have not been provided with metal gates;
(b) in respect of the estates referred to in (a), of the types of design to which their housing blocks belong, the number of units in each block, and the total number of units which have been allocated to tenants; and
(c) of the names of PRH estates currently under construction and the number of housing blocks involved, the number of units in each block, as well as the respective estimated costs to be incurred by the Housing Department if all units are provided with collapsible or sliding stainless steel gates?
Reply:
Madam President,
My reply to the three-part question is as follows:
(a) There are 24 completed public housing estates where flats upon completion were not provided with metal gates. These estates are Easeful Court, Grandeur Terrace, High Prosperity Terrace, Ko Cheung Court, Kwai Fong Estate, Po Tat Estate, Tin Heng Estate, Tin Yat Estate, Tsz Hong Estate, Wo Che Estate, Yau Tong Estate, Shek Yam Estate, Shek Lei Estate, Yat Tung (II) Estate, Yau Lai Estate, On Tin Estate, Lei Yue Mun Estate, Hoi Lai Estate, Oi Tung Estate, Lei Muk Shue Estate, Hin Yiu Estate, Mei Tin Estate, Kwai Chung Estate and Ching Ho Estate. All the housing blocks of these estates have been provided with comprehensive security systems including main gates with digital locks, closed circuit television and intercom systems, in addition to round-the-clock security guard services.
(b) The estates mentioned above comprise housing blocks of both standard design (new harmony, concord and new cruciform) and non-standard design. Each block contains about 220 to 800 flats. The total number of flats is about 57,000 flats. The vast majority of these flats have been allocated to residents.
(c) The public housing estates currently under construction will provide a total of about 45,000 flats. The details are as follows.
Name of Estates/Developments Number of blocks
Oi Tung Estate 1
Mei Tin Estate 3
Upper Wong Tai Sin Estate 1
Development at Sau Mau Ping Phases 13,
14 and 16 5
Un Chau Estate 5
Choi Ying Estate 5
Yau Mei Estate 5
Kwai Chung Estate 3
Tin Ching Estate 7
Development at Sha Tin Area 11 4
Development at Lam Tin Phases 7 and 8 4
Ching Ho Estate 7
Deveopment at Choi Wan Road Site 2, 3A
and 3B Phase 1 6
Development at Shatin Pass 2
Development at Ex Chai Wan Estate 2
Development at Tung Tau Cottage Area West 1
Under the existing policy, the HA will not provide metal gates for new public housing flats, but all new public housing blocks will be provided with the aforementioned comprehensive security systems. Assuming that the Hong Kong Housing Authority were to co ordinate the installation of collapsible or sliding gates for all the flats of the above housing blocks, it is estimated that an extra expenditure of over $110M would be incurred, based on a unit price of $2,500 for a powder-coated galvanized mild steel gateset of standard specification.
Ends/Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Issued at HKT 12:51
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