Housing officials will have to submit a monthly progress report on each construction project to help meet Tung Chee-hwa's homes target.
And the Housing Authority will demand an explanation if the Housing Department fails to meet the target. Authority members said yesterday the move was intended to help meet Mr Tung's pledge of supplying 85,000 new flats a year, 50,000 of which would be public housing.
In the past, the department presented progress reports on the total number of flats completed. No breakdown was given on each project, making it difficult to pinpoint delays.
Last Tuesday, the department withdrew a redevelopment project from Tai Hing (Engineering and Builders) in Ko Chui Road Estate, Yau Tong, after the project was found to be six months behind. The contractor is taking legal action, claiming the department failed to take the past few months' poor weather into consideration.
Housing Authority member Lee Wing-tat said monitoring was a positive step, but he wondered whether it could solve the problem of a fluctuating flat supply. 'Factors such as lack of construction workers and service land for construction can sometimes put projects way behind schedule and are beyond the department's control,' Mr Lee said.
Mr Lee said the Government should liaise with the departments concerned.
