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SCMP Reporter

PUBLIC housing tenants claim their estates have become deathtraps because of the Housing Authority's delay in fixing structural and design defects - some reported more than a year ago.

  Safety fears among tenants grew when a child fell to her death through a broken railing on the sixth floor of a Sha Tin estate on Sunday.

  Tenants say they reported the damage six months ago, but their complaints have been ignored.

  The Housing Department manages more than 200 rental and home ownership scheme estates, providing accommodation for almost half of Hong Kong's population.

  Under the present system, each block on an estate is patrolled by caretakers at least once a day.

  The caretakers are supposed to be alert to any flat damage or defects and jot them down on a checklist issued to them before going on patrol.

  Tenants can also report damage to the caretakers.

  Among the 44 items on the checklist are railings, fire services, recreational facilities, water seepage and even illegal parking.

  The records on the list are then checked, confirmed, and signed by a senior estate assistant, a housing officer and the estate's assistant housing manager. Follow-up action should be carried out immediately and each case should be cleared up within a month, according to the department.

  But a number of tenants at Tuen Mun's Tai Hing Estate, where the canopy over a pavement has not been fixed since being broken by falling objects about a year ago, accuse some caretakers of being ''blind to the damage'' and ''deaf to complaints''.

  The canopy was added to cover the walkway linking Hing Tai House and a footbridge to the market about two years ago after a passer-by was killed by a falling object.

  But Wong Ng Shuk-yee, who lives on the 18th floor, said: ''Tenants here seem to be addicted to tossing objects out of windows and the canopy has been broken dozens of times.''   At least five holes, one big enough for an adult to go through, were found on the 20-metre transparent plastic canopy when a South China Morning Post reporter visited the estate yesterday.

  Tuen Mun District Board member Yim Tin-sang said he had complained to the department a year ago but nothing had been done.

  ''It is a deathtrap. The canopy was built to protect pedestrians from falling objects. But now it is broken.

  ''The department is failing to solve the problem of falling objects and delays repairing the canopy. It shows contempt for the value of human life,'' said Mr Yim.

  Acting Deputy Director of Housing (Construction) Raymond Bates said yesterday he was asking the estate office for details and could not comment on a particular case.

  But Mr Bates said the department's complaint-reporting procedure was efficient and each complaint would be followed up.

  Official figures show the department received 6,146 complaints in the third quarter last year, 74 per cent of which were about maintenance. But only four cases were not resolved after three months.

  Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood vice-chairman Leung Kwong-cheong doubted the reliability of the figures.

  He said: ''The caretakers are just too lazy to act on the complaints. They just don't bother to pass them on to their seniors. The department can only get a true picture if it allows tenants to report to the housing manager in person.''   His view was shared by Shamshuipo People's Livelihood concern group member Simon Yan Kai-wing: ''The existing system should be reformed. At least, tenants should be informed of the progress of the works.''   In Block Nine of Pak Tin Estate, Shamshuipo, at least 10 fire hoses have been damaged. The defects have remained unrepaired for more than three months.

  And in Wang Tau Hom Estate, Kowloon City, railings on staircases in Wang Kay House and Wang Tak House are designed so that not all the bars reach the stairs. Children could easily slip through the gap - more than 30 centimetres wide - at the bottom of the stairs.

  Estate assistants' union chairman Tang Fook-cheung, however, argued: ''We are not carpenters or technicians. We cannot fix broken doors or electricity faults.

        ''What we can do is to ring our contractor and ask him to send people to fix the problems. When they come is beyond our control.'' 



Alarm at estate deathtraps