Poor tenants' plight ignored after tragedy
The tragedy of the tenement collapse in To Kwa Wan has aroused great public concern and resulted in a heated debate in Hong Kong. But most of the discussion has focused on how to enhance the law-enforcement powers of the Buildings Department, accelerate the pace of redevelopment and crack down on the illegal subdividing of flats in tenements into suites.
The interests of the people who live in these tenements has been overlooked.
The fact is that most of the tenants who inhabit these old buildings are underprivileged or working class, especially in buildings in urban areas. They cannot live further from the city because of the travelling costs.
If they stay in urban Hong Kong, they have a better chance of finding work. But with their meagre incomes, they cannot afford to pay exorbitant rents and so have no choice but to live in a subdivided flat. It is all about supply and demand.
As we all know, the monthly rent for a whole flat, even an old walk-up in urban Hong Kong, will be at least HK$3,000. For people from the grass roots that will be a great financial burden. For the unemployed, or people on other forms of welfare, the maximum housing subsidy they can get from the Social Welfare Department is HK$2,200.
This falls short of their practical needs. If these subdivided flats did not exist, the underprivileged would have nowhere to live in urban Hong Kong because, in these areas, there is a chronic shortage of public housing. People should not be deprived of their right to live in urban areas just because they are poor.
