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Defiant tenant delays clearance of housing estate

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REDEVELOPMENT of an ageing Kwai Chung public housing estate, which will eventually house tens of thousands of people, is being held up by one tenant who refuses to move out.

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An ultimatum has been given to Lam Yuet-hing, the last tenant remaining in the area affected by the second phase of the Kwai Shing East Estate redevelopment, to vacate his flat by tomorrow week or face eviction.

Completion of the Housing Authority's clearance has been delayed for at least four months as Mr Lam insists on being rehoused in a two-bedroom flat in neighbouring Kwai Fong Estate.

He has rejected the authority's explanation there is no such home available and has warned he will resist eviction with violence.

Mr Lam, 45, who has lived in the estate for 21 years, his wife and two children have a 25-square-metre, one-bedroom flat which costs $470 a month.

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He defied a removal deadline in February. The authority's tenancy appeal board last month rejected his case but granted him a one-month reprieve.

The authority's housing manager (headquarters), Ng Po-ho, said: ''We tried to be more understanding, but it seems he likes to stick to his unreasonable demand more than to see the problem solved.

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