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SCMP Reporter

RECENT changes to the Building Management Ordinance (BMO), which include giving homeowners more power to control the quality of service provided by their property management companies, is too late for property owners living in the Redhill Peninsula.

  After more than two weeks of trying, members of the estate owners' committee have been so far been unsuccessful in having their property management company, Mightyton Property Management, and their agent, Protech Property Management, removed following an auditor's findings of financial irregularities.

  Following legal advice, the owners' committee voted to terminate the company immediately after giving it three months' notice to leave the property for alleged gross negligence and incompetence.

  Protech has so far denied any allegations of wrongdoing.

  Owners' committee members said they were told by Protech under the BMO legislation, the Redhill Peninsula committee does not have the power to fire them.

  Security guards working for Protech have so far refused to accept a termination letter served on them by a lawyer for the estate committee.

  There are now two sets of security guards on duty at Redhill - Protech on the inside and guards from Kai Shing (a subsidiary of Sun Hung Kai), hired to replace Protech, on the outside.

  Committee members have a litany of complaints against Protech including providing poor security, not pushing the developer to provide them with a fully equipped kitchen, poor maintenance and repair of recreational facilities and sewage treatment facilities.

  Matters came to a head when the property management company reported a shortfall of more than $4 million and requested an increase in management fees.

  Before agreeing, the owners' committee first hired an independent auditor to assess the Redhill books.

   Committee members said they were stunned by the auditor's findings which concluded Protech was not the real property management company. They had actually sub-contracted the work to Mightyton.

  According to the estate owners' committee, the auditor also found Zeta Estates, which is the majority owner at Redhill Peninsula, is also part-owner of the property management company and had not paid more than $3 million in fees and charges.

  Protech has told the estate owners' committee the property management company had repeatedly asked for the fees and they were now paid.

  According to one committee member, the BMO legislation provides the residents of Redhill with no solution. 'The ordinance is applicable to our case,' a committee spokesman said. 'But in order to get the full protection of the ordinance, you have to form an Owner's incorporation and we don't have that.'   According to the legislation, where there is a conflict between the BMO and other legislation such as Redhill's deed of mutual covenant, the BMO reigns supreme. As a result, in order to terminate Mightyton and Protech under the BMO, the estate owners must call a meeting of all residents to kick out Protech.

  But as Zeta controls 30 per cent of Redhill homes and a large number of owners are absentee landlords, the estate owners' committee is unsure if it could get a majority vote.

  However, the committee said it received a legal opinion that their deed of mutual covenant carries as much weight as the BMO legislation.

  Meanwhile, Protech has sent residents a letter denying all the allegations, asking them to ignore the Kai Shing guards. The letter said: ''We, Protech Property Management Limited, the building manager of Redhill Peninsula Estate, intend to go on serving you in the best way we are able to.''   Committee members said they hoped to resolve the matter at a weekend meeting.

Protech's estate manager Joe Ho was unavailable for comment yesterday.



Residents bid to sack managers