To Kwa Wan residents may resort to court order in eviction fight
But chances of success are deemed slim as date looms for them to leave dangerous tenement
Residents of an unsafe tenement block in To Kwa Wan may apply for a court order to stop the government from turning them out on Friday.
That was the most immediate option for the residents who had hit a brick wall with three government bodies in their eviction fight, said Kowloon City district councillor Pun Chi-man.
Their ordeal started on Thursday last week when the Buildings Department posted a notice telling them to move out in fewer than 10 days from 51 Kai Ming Street. The notice said the balconies of their 56-year-old flats were structurally dangerous and should be knocked down.
The elderly among them are also upset about a relocation offer by the Housing Department, which wants to move them to a transit centre in Tuen Mun. The department reiterated yesterday that this was the only temporary accommodation available. And at the Urban Renewal Authority, officials were unlikely to announce any decision on redevelopment within a week, a person close to the authority said.
The occupants are hoping the URA will redevelop their site, which would halt a closure order from the courts.
Pun noted the haste with which residents had been told to leave. "They haven't been shown sufficient evidence that they must leave in such a short time," he said, after meeting buildings officers. "So far, they haven't had a word of explanation apart from that it's 'dangerous'."