Following is a question by the Hon Wilson Or and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Mr Frank Chan Fan, in the Legislative Council today (May 29):

Question:

     Some residents of public rental housing (PRH) estates have complained that it has often been the case that the repair/replacement of recreational facilities (e.g. slides, health walkers and table tennis tables) in the estates has yet to be completed long after they were out of order or damaged, and individual facilities have been out of use for periods of time spanning years. Regarding the repair and maintenance of recreational facilities in PRH estates, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the current arrangements for the repair and maintenance of recreational facilities; the number of contractors to which the Housing Department has currently outsourced such work;

(2) of (i) the number and percentage of recreational facilities that were out of use because they were out of order or had been damaged, and (ii) the average time taken for repairing/replacing such facilities, in each of the past three financial years; and

(3) whether it has set any target completion time or performance pledge in respect of the repair/replacement work for recreational facilities that are out of order or damaged; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

     My consolidated reply to Hon Wilson Or's question is as follows:

     Under the concept of "communal play areas", the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) provides recreational facilities in its Public Rental Housing (PRH) estates to provide a comfortable, healthy and safe living environment for PRH residents of different age groups.

     The installation and repair works of the play/fitness equipment in PRH estates are conducted by agents in the HA's Play/Fitness Equipment Agents Reference List (Reference List). At present, there are five qualified agents in the Reference List. The HA requires the agents to provide safety certificates and warranty periods for the facilities installed by them to ensure that they satisfy the international safety standards. In order to avoid affecting the existing safety certificates of the play/fitness equipment, the HA adopts "repairing by original agents" strategy in which repair works are done by the original agents to ensure that the equipment can meet the safety standard of the original design, safeguarding the safety of the residents. Apart from regular inspection of the play/fitness equipment, the HA also engages independent safety consultant to carry out inspections every two years and submit reports and recommendations to the HA to ensure proper maintenance and repair of the play/fitness equipment.

     The HA has been closely monitoring the performance of all play/fitness equipment agents. In the past three years (i.e. 2016, 2017 and 2018), there were 418, 446 and 500 works conducted to repair the play/fitness equipments respectively. The average time required for the repair works were 34, 24 and 36 days respectively. In case the defective situation of the above-mentioned equipment may affect the safety of the users, the HA would fence off those play/fitness equipment before commencing the repair work. Since the HA does not keep statistics on temporary suspension of equipment, we are not able to provide the percentage of suspension due to defects.

     Separately, when some of the old types of equipment are seriously damaged and beyond repair, the HA will replace them, and invite agents in the Reference List to submit initial designs. The HA will conduct the tendering exercise after consulting the residents through the Estate Management Advisory Committees. The HA will also request the awarded agents to complete the works as soon as possible. As it takes time to go through the stages of design, consultation, tendering and installation, the time required to install new equipment is longer than that of normal repair work of existing equipment.

     There are many different types of play/fitness equipment and their scale vary, the scope of repair works and the required spare parts are also different. Therefore, the HA is not able to establish a pledge time for the repair works of the play/fitness equipment. However, once the repair proposals have been confirmed by the agents, the HA will require the agents to put up notices to clearly indicate the scope of the repair works, the expected completion date and contact number for enquiries. Most of the repair works could be completed before the expected completion date.

Ends/Wednesday, May 29, 2019
Issued at HKT 12:15

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