The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Carrie Lam, visited the Housing Department (HD) today (December 15) to learn more about the work of the department and meet with its staff.

     Mrs Lam started her visit by meeting with the Permanent Secretary for Transport and Housing (Housing) and Director of Housing, Mr Stanley Ying, and directorate staff at the HD headquarters in Ho Man Tin. She was briefed on the work of various offices and the challenges they were facing. Mrs Lam stressed that resolving the housing issue was a top priority of the current-term Government, and HD colleagues were among those tasked with this important mission. She encouraged the directorate staff to keep up their passion and lead the team to serve the community with professionalism and dedication.

     Accompanied by Mr Ying, Mrs Lam then toured a number of offices of the HD. She visited Architectural Section and Structural Engineering Section under the Development and Construction Division to learn more about the work in taking forward public housing development projects. The two sections mainly provide advice on public housing development projects in areas such as planning, building, design, project management, and structural and foundation works.  The two sections also assist in formulating and co-ordinating related policies and research work. Mrs Lam said she was pleased to know that the HD was actively promoting sustainable buildings, and was making good use of information technology to enhance architectural designs and the efficiency of works.

     Mrs Lam later went to the Hong Kong Housing Authority Customer Service Centre in Lok Fu and visited the Regional Management Office (Tai Po, North and Shatin) under the Estate Management Division to better understand their daily work. The office is mainly responsible for the overall management and maintenance of 24 public rental housing estates as well as tenancy management for 13 Tenants Purchase Scheme estates, 49 Home Ownership Scheme courts and one Buy or Rent Option estate in the Tai Po, North and Sha Tin districts.

     Mrs Lam then visited the Home Ownership Scheme Sales Unit of the Land Administration Section and the Applications Sub-section of the Allocation Section under the Strategy Division. She received a briefing on the work relating to applications and sales for the subsidised home ownership schemes including the Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Pilot Scheme, as well as an overview of handling applications and allocation for public rental housing.

     During the visit, Mrs Lam chatted with staff of the department and commended them for their hard work in striving to meet the Government’s target on public housing supply amid rising expectations from society. She encouraged them to continue making an all-out effort to provide quality subsidised housing to the general public in a timely manner.

Ends/Thursday, December 15, 2016
Issued at HKT 17:59

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