Question "LCQ6: Kwun Tong Town Centre redevelopment project" by the Hon Alan Leong and a reply by the Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands, Mr Michael Suen, in the Legislative Council

 

Following is a question by the Hon Alan Leong and a reply by the Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands, Mr Michael Suen, in the Legislative Council today (January 5):

 

Question:

 

In early 1998, the predecessor of the Urban Renewal Authority ("URA"), the Land Development Corporation, announced the implementation of 26 redevelopment projects, including the Kwun Tong Town Centre redevelopment project. So far, 18 out of those projects have commenced and even completed the acquisition, compensation and rehousing of the affected residents in relation to these projects. However, the Kwun Tong Town Centre redevelopment project has not yet commenced. The residents have been waiting hard for almost seven years to date and are faced with the threat of their landlords forcing them to move out in order to obtain vacant possession. As for the other seven projects, except for implementing the two projects in Tai Kok Tsui in mid-December 2004, URA has not commenced the other five redevelopment projects in 2004. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

 

(a) whether the dates of the acquisition, compensation and rehousing of the affected residents in relation to the Kwun Tong Town Centre redevelopment project have been extended indefinitely, making it impossible for the project to commence; if not, of the implementation timetable and whether URA has any plans to rehabilitate rather than redevelop the premises in the Kwun Tong Town Centre;

 

(b) of the measures to be taken by the Administration and URA, between now and the commencement of the acquisition, compensation and rehousing of the affected residents in relation to the Kwun Tong Town Centre redevelopment project, to help the residents who are being forced to move out by their landlords; and

 

(c) whether it knows why URA has not commenced the above five redevelopment projects in 2004; whether the Administration has deferred the implementation of the URA's Annual Business Plan approved in 2004; and whether the Administration and URA will abandon the five projects?

 

Reply:

 

Madam President,

 

Before I answer the Hon Alan Leong's question in detail, I would like to clarify two points.

 

First of all, the role of the Government is to formulate and coordinate the overall urban renewal policy and to monitor the implementation of the urban renewal programme. The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) is an independent statutory body tasked to undertake urban renewal. The URA Board is empowered to determine its own policies in respect of, inter alia, the timing and mode of project implementation as well as the compensation policy.

 

Secondly, of the 26 projects announced by the former Land Development Corporation (LDC) in 1998, one was launched by way of "owners participation scheme" between the former LDC and the owners concerned before the establishment of the URA. Regarding the other 25 projects, the URA has so far launched 19 of them. The remaining six projects, including the Kwun Tong Town Centre project, will be commenced by the URA in accordance with its approved five-year Corporate Plan and Annual Business Plan.

 

My reply to the three parts of the question is as follows:

 

(a) The URA has already included the Kwun Tong Town Centre project in its third five-year Corporate Plan approved by the Financial Secretary. We understand the URA is conducting detailed studies on the project for working out a concrete implementation plan. Since the project will affect a large number of residential and commercial buildings and involve complex issues on infrastructural facilities, the URA needs time to carry out detailed planning and preparation work as well as to gauge the views of the community.

 

As regards the actual implementation schedule for the Kwun Tong Town Centre project, it is the URA's established policy not to announce such information in advance. This is to prevent people who intend to abuse the compensation and rehousing arrangements from moving into the URA's project areas, resulting in a waste of public resources.

 

The URA has adopted a comprehensive and holistic approach to regenerate the older urban fabric by way of redevelopment of dilapidated buildings, rehabilitation of older buildings, revitalization of older districts and preservation of buildings with historical and architectural value. In determining the renewal needs and the mode of implementation of the Kwun Tong Town Centre, the URA, as an independent statutory body, will take into consideration all relevant factors, including the age and condition of the buildings, the living conditions of residents therein, the urgency of the project (such as the availability of basic sanitary facilities and potential fire hazards of the affected buildings) and the URA's financial position.

 

(b) In the context of the enactment of the Landlord and Tenant (Consolidation) (Amendment) Ordinance 2004 (LTO 2004), the URA undertook to provide, through administrative measures, rehousing or ex-gratia payments to eligible domestic tenants of the remaining ex-LDC projects (including the Kwun Tong Town Centre project) who are affected by its redevelopment works. The amount of such ex-gratia payments would be calculated on the basis of the statutory formula previously in force before the enactment of the LTO 2004. For tenants who are required by their landlords to move out upon expiry of their tenancies and Transitional Termination Notices (TTNs) before the commencement of the ex-LDC projects, the URA would still offer ex-gratia cash payments or rehousing to these eligible tenants upon the commencement of such projects. The Government and the URA briefed the Panel on Planning, Lands and Works of this Council on details of the relevant URA policy on 23 November 2004.

 

While the URA respects the legal right of the landlords to recover their properties upon the expiry of tenancies and TTNs, it has struck a fine balance between the interests of the tenants and the landlords when working out the compensation policy which is applicable to the remaining ex-LDC projects. Landlords will not be able to obtain a higher compensation by recovering their properties, thus minimizing the incentive for them to evict the tenants. Moreover, the URA has decided and announced earlier the elimination of the difference in valuation between tenanted and vacant flats so as to prevent landlords from evicting tenants to take advantage of the difference and obtain a higher compensation. Designed to safeguard the legitimate interests of both the tenants and landlords, this initiative will cost the URA an additional $27 million on compensation for the remaining ex-LDC projects.

 

(c) As stated in my opening remarks, the URA has already included the remaining six ex-LDC projects in its third five-year Corporate Plan. Neither has there been procrastination on the part of the URA in implementing its current Annual Business Plan. In fact, as pointed out by the Hon Alan LEONG, the URA launched two ex-LDC projects in Tai Kok Tsui in mid-December last year. As far as we understand, in the first half of the current business plan year, the URA has focused its efforts on rehabilitation work and has devoted considerable resources and manpower to the acquisition work of the Lee Tung Street, Wan Chai project, which involves more than 600 residential flats and shops. The URA has indicated that it intends to commence more redevelopment projects before the end of the current business plan year.

 

Ends/Wednesday, January 5, 2005

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