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SCMP Reporter

I AM a resident in Lai King Estate and am concerned about the policy of the Housing Authority.

  Recently, the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HKHA) decided to renovate the old vacant rooms in some housing estates and give them to the people who live in resettlement areas.

  I and my family live in a one-room flat which is only 224 square feet. There are five of us and obviously, conditions in such a small space are extremely crowded.

  It is difficult to describe the misery we feel.

  Four of us sleep in two bunk beds and the other member of the family has to sleep on the floor.

  It is difficult for those of us at school to concentrate on our studies.

  We don't even have desks to work on.

  When we have exams, we have to burn the midnight oil and this disrupts the whole family, as they have to try and sleep with the lights on.

  It's even hard to move around in such a small room.

  Is it fair that the HKHA gives the vacant rooms to those people who live in the resettlement areas, instead of people in overcrowded conditions in the same housing estate?   Is the authority ignoring the urgent needs of the ''sardines'' existing in such small tins?   In some housing estates, if a neighbour moves out next to a family which has a problem with overcrowding, that family may be given that apartment/room. But this is not so in Lai King Estate.

  I wonder if the HKHA is adopting double standards.

  Moreover, on some estates some families are given larger accommodation.

   It is not fair to expect people to endure overcrowded conditions.

  If there are vacant rooms in the Lai King Estate, why doesn't the HKHA give them to the overcrowded families in the same estate, so they can have more room in which to live?   MAGGIE CHEUNG Lai King 



Alleviate overcrowding