Hong Kong does not stand out as particularly unsafe when it comes to natural disasters. Being affluent and sophisticated in urban planning mean we are well positioned to weather the severest storms with few injuries and minimal damage. However, we should not forget that the city has a history of fatal landslides, killing more than 470 people in the past six decades. Many would recall the loss of 138 lives in a single day in June 1972, when two steep slopes in Sau Mau Ping and the Mid-Levels collapsed and flattened the settlements nearby following heavy rain.

Credit goes to the Geotechnical Engineering Office for keeping our city safe from deadly landslides. Set up in 1977 in the wake of another fatal disaster, the slope safety unit has since combed through tens of thousands of slopes. Having improved some 11,000 deemed of higher risk, the office is now looking at another 17,000 slopes that are close to roads.

But with some 60,000 slopes across the city, government action alone is not enough. The job has been made difficult by landowners who do not do their part. The government has so far issued more than 2,800 repair work orders for slopes that are the responsibility of private owners. But compliance still leaves a lot to be desired, with some 740 orders still outstanding. With almost one in four orders ignored, the situation should concern us all.