Clock ticks down on mass eviction from old To Kwa Wan building
Eviction order to be served on entire block on Friday unless residents can rally support to force property onto URA redevelopment list
Residents of a building in To Kwa Wan are racing against time to avoid eviction from their dangerous tenement by Friday, banking on possible support from the Urban Renewal Authority to redevelop the site.
Spirits were lifted at the six-storey, 56-year-old block by news that the owner of nearby block No 45 was open to redeveloping that building, Kowloon West lawmaker Helena Wong Pik-wan said yesterday.
Will the building survive if its balconies are sliced off? It's uncertain. The elderly residents paid a lot for the last building renovation. They can't afford more
Agreement from that owner would help the residents reach a majority consensus on an overhaul, piling pressure on the authority to step in, Wong said.
That might in turn halt the Buildings Department's attempt to secure a closure order from the courts that would allow it to remove all the balconies, which account for a quarter of each flat's size and are structurally dangerous.
Subdivided cubicles abound on the enclosed balconies and are believed to be a major reason the structures are fast deteriorating, engineers and surveyors say.
Wong said redevelopment was the best solution.
"Will the building survive if its balconies are sliced off? It's uncertain," she said. "The elderly residents paid a lot for the last building renovation. They can't afford more."