DISTRICT board members and tenants at public estates will be allowed greater say in housing management under a new scheme prompted by the large number of residents' complaints about maintenance and services. The scheme, endorsed at a Housing Authority meeting yesterday, will be on trial for one year from next April at eight selected estates. Estate management advisory committees, chaired by an estate's housing manager, will comprise about 10 members, including tenants' representatives and district board members. Authority chairman Rosanna Wong Yick-ming said: 'It is in line with our policy to decentralise estate management. It also enables us to respond to tenants' complaints more quickly.' If successful, the scheme will be adopted in all public rental estates. However, Lo Chau, chairman of Hong Kong People's Council on Public Housing Policy accused the new move of being merely 'window-dressing'. 'It is meaningless to have consultative committees only. We want power to direct the department to work according to tenants' suggestions. The committees will be consulted on aspects such as caretakers' performance, estate cleaning and priority of maintenance work. They will have no say in rent-fixing. Monthly meetings will be held and recommendations will be relayed to the authority for consideration by the housing manager, according to initial idea. Nearly 3,000 complaints about lift breakdowns and electricity supply in estates were lodged between July and September. About 70 complaints were about staff services.
