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LCQ11: Reinstatement of the original fixtures and facilities by tenants moving out of public rental housing flats
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     Following is a question by the Hon Wong Kwok-hing and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Ms Eva Cheng, in the Legislative Council today (July 14):

Question:

     At present, the Housing Department (HD) requires all public rental housing (PRH) tenants, when moving out of their flats, to reinstate the original fixtures and facilities provided by HD at their own cost.  I have received complaints from quite a number of PRH tenants that when they move out, they are required to remove basic fixtures altered by them such as flooring, ceiling cornices, window grilles, metal gatesets and custom-made built-in furniture, thereby generating a large quantity of waste.  In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the number of PRH tenants who, when moving out of their flats, had left the works to reinstate the original fixtures of the flats to HD, and whether it knows the number of PRH tenants who had undertaken such works at their own cost, in each of the past five years, as well as the costs involved;

(b) whether the authorities have assessed the quantity of waste generated as a result of the aforesaid requirement imposed by HD for reinstating the original fixtures; if so, of the total weight of the waste generated in the past five years and the average weight of the waste generated in each of such cases; whether the authorities have separated the waste concerned prior to its disposal; if so, of a list, by type of waste involved, of the ways of disposal adopted by HD; if not, the reasons for that;

(c) whether HD had, in the past three years, recycled and reused those usable items acquired upon recovering PRH flats such as furniture, fixtures and electrical appliances, etc. or donated them to organisations and persons in need; if so, of the details and the number of such items; if not, the reasons for that; and

(d) given that there have been comments that the arrangement for reinstating PRH flats to their original state has caused wastage, whether the authorities will review such requirement, so as to reduce the quantity of the waste generated in that regard?

Reply:

President,

     My reply to the question is as follows:

(a), (c) and (d) Pursuant to the tenancy agreements entered into between public rental housing (PRH) tenants and the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA), PRH tenants who carry out any decoration or fixture works in their flats should, upon vacation of their flats, reinstate the original fixtures and facilities or remove the additional fixtures and installations before surrendering their flats to HA upon termination of the tenancies concerned.  Tenants may arrange the removal works by themselves or by paying a reinstatement charge to HA to request Housing Department (HD) to carry out the reinstatement works.

     Nevertheless, with a view to reducing redecoration debris, HD would under normal circumstances allow the reservation of fixtures and installations installed by the outgoing tenants such as marble/Corian sink bench, wall-mounted kitchen cabinet, water closet pan with flushing cistern, security gates and wall or floor finishes which are reusable and in good condition for the incoming tenants.  Such arrangements would provide the incoming tenants with safe fixtures and installations for use, and at the same time reduce the quantity of construction waste, thereby protecting the environment.  As for fixtures and installations such as furniture, electrical installations and appliances which the HD could not ascertain whether they are conforming to the relevant statutory/safety requirements, HD would require the outgoing tenants to remove these fixtures and installations when moving out of PRH flats for safety reasons.  Generally, the outgoing tenants would arrange for the removal of those dilapidated or poorly maintained fixtures and installations by themselves before moving out of PRH flats.  Only minimal reinstatement works would be undertaken by the HD upon tenants' request.  We have not kept separate records on cost involved by tenants for such works.  As the existing arrangement is working smoothly, the HD has no plans to review the reinstatement requirements.

 
(b) Solid waste arising from flat reinstatement works would be handled together with other construction waste.  Therefore, we have not kept separate records on solid waste generated from flat reinstatement works.  Nevertheless, our District Term Maintenance works contractors are required to implement good practices in waste management to reduce the possible adverse impact on the environment.  For construction waste such as metal, paper and plastic which are recyclable in nature, we would require our contractors to sort them out for recycling purpose.  As for construction waste which is commonly known as public fill such as concrete, cement and rubble, they could be used for land formation.  Only construction wastes that could not be recycled would be disposed of at landfills.

Ends/Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Issued at HKT 11:56

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