bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Patsy Moy

The Housing Authority has cancelled most meetings in recent weeks, triggering concerns among members that important decisions are being delayed.

Housing Department officials confirmed only two committee meetings took place out of a total of six scheduled since July 3. The department carries out policies set by the authority. The meetings were cancelled even though the last timetable was updated on June 30.

Authority member Ng Leung-sing said he believed important decisions would not be made until a new chairman was found.

Former chairwoman Rosanna Wong Yick-ming resigned in June after a series of piling scandals that led to a no-confidence motion passed in the Legislative Council against her and Director of Housing Tony Miller.

The decision-making committees cover different areas of housing policy.

Two building-tenders committee meetings have been held since July but those on home ownership and public complaints have been cancelled.

Home-ownership committee members Ho Hei-wah and Dr Rebecca Chiu Lai-har said important issues such as a plan to convert 16,000 Home Ownership Scheme flats into public rental units must be addressed quickly.

'The issue has a significant impact on tenants. People want to know where those flats will be as soon as possible to make their own plans,' Mr Ho said. 'But the issue has not been put forward for discussion because meetings have been repeatedly cancelled.'

The department normally prepares documents including new housing plans for members to discuss in committee meetings. Mr Ng warned that members would not have enough time to consider important proposals if they were all submitted at the same time.

'We do not rubber-stamp - we need time to consider carefully whether to adopt, vote down or amend the proposals,' he said. 'Housing policies are always inter-related - the delay of one committee meeting may also interrupt the pace of the others. It is always a loss if we cannot hold the meetings on schedule.'

Member Wong Kwun said that an important decision on public rental housing was reached last month by circulating documents among members instead of holding a meeting for discussion.

The authority denied any important meetings were cancelled. 'Only those dealing with issues that are not urgent are cancelled,' a spokesman said. 'We are dealing with all relevant and important issues as usual.'



Policymakers fear confusion among tenants after key meetings skipped