THE Sandwich Class Housing Loan Scheme will be extended, Secretary for Housing Dominic Wong Shing-wah said yesterday. The fifth phase of the scheme is to be launched at the end of the year. When the scheme was announced in 1993, it was only supposed to last for four phases. But after visiting a Tseung Kwan O public housing estate yesterday, Mr Wong said that more than $400 million was left in the budget. He predicted about $50 million would be received in loan repayments next year. 'I won't give the money to our Treasury, I will use it to subsidise the scheme to help needy families,' he said. Mr Wong denied he had failed to realise his promise of providing enough public flats for people on the waiting list. More flats would be built in 1998, he said, and he was confident the Government would reach its target of building 141,000 public rental flats by 2001. He said increasing immigration from the mainland should not affect the number of flats available. 'I believe most of the immigrants coming to the territory are for family reunions,' he said. 'I don't think there will be a big problem on housing.' Mr Wong also reiterated that the Government had no plans to change the housing strategy to provide low-rental flats. 'The rent at public housing estates is relatively low. It is to suit the needs of people,' he said. 'We have no intention of changing that now.' At Legco's housing panel yesterday, Democratic legislator Dr Yeung Sum accused the Government of making empty promises. He said the Government had claimed 23,000 new flats would be built every year, but only 14,000 public rental flats had been built in 1995-96. Mr Wong said the land-granting process had held up building works.
