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Following is a question by the Hon Wu Chi-wai and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (February 3):
Question:
In 2014, the Housing Department (HD) offered free of charge to replace the laundry pole holders (commonly known as the "three joss sticks" laundry racks) and the old-type see-through collapsible gates in the flats of public rental housing estates and unsold flats of Tenants Purchase Scheme estates in the territory. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) regarding the replacement of laundry racks, of a list of the housing estates in respect of which, at present, (i) the relevant works have been completed, (ii) the relevant works are in progress, (iii) the relevant works contracts have been awarded, and (iv) the tendering exercises for the relevant works have yet to be conducted; whether, according to HD's estimation, all such works can be completed in 2017 as scheduled;
(2) regarding the housing estates in respect of which the laundry racks replacement works have been completed, of the respective numbers and percentages of households which consented and refused to have the relevant works carried out in their flats by HD; whether HD has studied the reasons why some households have refused to have such works carried out; if so, of the outcome; whether HD will improve the relevant arrangements in the light of the households' feedback;
(3) whether there have been cases in which the newly-installed laundry racks needed to be replaced because they had been broken; if so, of the number of laundry racks involved, with a breakdown by (i) the name of the housing estate, (ii) the parts which were broken, and (iii) the time between the date on which the works were first carried out and the date on which the parts were found to be broken;
(4) as HD has indicated that elderly households and tenants with disabilities will be given priority in relation to the works to replace old-type see-through collapsible gates, whether the relevant works have all been completed; if not, of the current progress and the anticipated completion time of all such works; and
(5) of the respective current number of housing estates in respect of which (i) the works to replace collapsible gates have been completed, (ii) the relevant works are in progress, and (iii) the relevant works have not yet commenced; whether, according to HD's estimation, such works can all be completed within five years as scheduled?
Reply:
President,
The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) has all along been committed to enhance the quality and safety of public rental housing (PRH) units, and introduced new facilities and improved flat design to address the ever-changing needs of tenants. Subject to resources availability and structural feasibility of buildings, HA introduced measures to improve existing PRH units with a view to enhancing the living environment of PRH tenants. To this end, in February 2014, the Subsidised Housing Committee of HA approved the replacement of the pole holders with laundry racks in rental flats of PRH estates and unsold rental flats of Tenants Purchase Scheme (TPS) estates free of charge. The programme involves 162 estates in total.
My reply to the five-part question raised by the Hon Wu Chi-wai is as follows:
(1) As of now, the replacement works have been completed in the 14 estates listed in Table 1.
Replacement works are being carried out in 26 estates listed in Table 2.
Meanwhile, contracts for the replacement works in 25 estates listed in Table 3 have been awarded and the works will soon commence.
Also, tenders for the replacement works in 95 estates listed in Table 4 are being assessed. Contracts for these estates are expected to be awarded shortly.
At present, replacement works in Ap Lei Chau Estate and Fu Shan Estate have yet to be tendered. The tenders will be issued in mid-2016 and the replacement works will be completed in 2017.
The Housing Department (HD) anticipates that all replacement works will be completed in 2017 as scheduled.
(2) In estates with the installation works completed, 55 per cent of the PRH households (26 203 households) accepted the replacement of laundry racks, while the remaining 45 per cent (21 388 households) declined. As the replacement is on a voluntary basis, HD did not collect statistical information on the reasons of refusal by tenants.
(3) To ensure the quality of the laundry facilities, contractors are required to select laundry rack samples for repeated running tests of rollers and pulling strength tests of nylon ropes before commencing the installation works. In addition to the quality tests before installation, HD also requires the contractors to conduct a second round of tests during the course of installation for quality assurance. A three-year warranty is provided by the contractors for any defects free of charge, except for deliberate damage. Upon the expiry of the warranty period, HD will be responsible for the subsequent maintenance of the laundry racks.
Among the estates with the replacement works completed, there are 11 cases where the laundry racks were reported defective (accounting for 0.04 per cent of all laundry racks installed). These cases of nylon ropes and roller defects were found in Choi Hung Estate and Sha Kok Estate within one year from installation. All defects have been rectified.
(4) The metal gates replacement programme is being implemented in all districts. The relevant works projects will be announced and it will be discussed by the respective Estate Management Advisory Committees meetings prior to commencement. Taking into account the needs of elderly and disabled tenants, as well as the actual circumstances of individual estates, HD will work out a detailed works schedule for each estate.
(5) Currently, the metal gates replacement works have already commenced in most of the estates as scheduled. The replacement works are in progress in 98 estates, while the works for the remaining four estates will commence in 2016-17. The programme is anticipated to be completed within five years.
Ends/Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Issued at HKT 13:03
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