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LCQ8: Cultural and Recreational Facilities in Public Housing Estates
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    Following is a question by the Hon Leung Kwok-hung and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Ms Eva Cheng, in the Legislative Council today (March 12):

Question:

    Under section 4(1) of the Housing Ordinance (Cap. 283), the Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA") has the responsibility to secure the provision of housing and such amenities ancillary thereto as HA thinks fit for public housing residents.  Since HA had divested its retail and car-parking facilities and sold them to The Link Management Limited ("The Link") in 2005, some members of the public have relayed to me that they are unable to buy domestic items such as large plastic buckets and iron chains, because there are no groceries in their housing estates.  They have also complained that there are fewer and fewer banks as well as cultural and recreational facilities in their housing estates.  In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) since the listing of The Link Real Estate Investment Trust ("The Link REIT"), among the post offices, public libraries, social services agencies, recreational facilities and government agencies located in the shopping arcades which were originally under HA but are now managed by The Link, how many of them had moved away, of the reasons for their removal, as well as the names and districts of the shopping arcades involved; whether the authorities have arranged in-situ re-provisioning of such facilities and agencies; if so, of the relevant details;

(b) whether it knows, since the listing of The Link REIT, how many banks, groceries and Chinese restaurants which were located in the shopping arcades under The Link had closed down; and

(c) focusing on the above situation, whether the authorities have any plan to, under the circumstances that The Link has not provided in the shopping arcades under its management the recreational facilities, retail services and other services required by the residents, provide such facilities and services in the public housing estates concerned; if not, whether they have any plan to buy back the relevant shopping arcades to provide anew the services and facilities concerned, so as to comply with the above requirement under the Housing Ordinance?


Reply:

Madam President,

    Upon the public listing of The Link Real Estate Investment Trust ("The Link") on November 25, 2005, it has become a private entity, whose business strategies and day-to-day operations are entirely independent of the Government and the Housing Authority (HA).  So long as The Linkˇ¦s operations comply with the relevant legislation, conditions of the government leases, and terms of the covenants and agreements between The Link and the HA, the Government and the HA cannot interfere with The Linkˇ¦s daily management and business strategies.

    My reply to the three-part question is as follows:

(a) According to the information provided by the Government Property Agency and the HA, 29 government offices have moved out of the properties under The Link since its public listing in November 2005.  The details are at the Annex.

    We do not have the information of individual social service organisations moving in and out of the shopping centres under The Link.  However, under a covenant made between The Link and the HA, The Link shall, after its public listing, continue to let a certain amount of floor area in prescribed shopping centres at concessionary rental to non-profit making organisations operating social welfare or educational facilities.

(b) The detailed business operations of individual commercial tenants in the shopping centres under The Link and the contractual arrangements between them and The Link are matters of general commercial operation.  The Government and the HA does not need to know the information in this respect.

(c) At the time of its public listing, The Link specified in its Offering Circular that it would maintain a portfolio of retail properties of a convenient nature, primarily serving the basic consumer needs of the residents of the adjacent public housing estates and other visitors.  In fact, as The Link's shopping centres are in close proximity of residential buildings of public housing estates, the residents of the estates are the main target clientele of The Link.  From the business and market points of view, The Link has to adopt a business strategy that suits the needs and affordability of the residents living in the vicinity. 

    Under section 4(1) of the Housing Ordinance, the HA shall exercise its powers and discharge its duties under the Housing Ordinance "so as to secure the provision of housing and such amenities ancillary there to as [the HA] thinks fit".  The Court of Final Appeal ruled in July 2005 that to secure the provision of the retail and car-parking facilities does not mean that the HA must itself be the direct provider.  These facilities would have been secured by the HA so long as they are available, even though they are provided by a third party other than the HA.  The retail and car-parking facilities under The Link are subject to the restrictions of the relevant land leases and must continue to be used for retail and car-parking purposes.  The government has no plan to buy back any assets already divested to The Link.

    Regarding recreational facilities, the HA has all along been providing suitable facilities in all public housing estates.  When examining the need for addition or up-grading of recreational facilities through the Estate Improvement Programme, it takes into account residents' views and the demographic characteristics of the estates concerned, with a view to providing a better living environment for residents. 

Ends/Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Issued at HKT 12:56

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