Think of an image synonymous with Hong Kong, and a dizzying array of garish neon signs would come to many minds. The trouble is that many of these signs remain aloft in their original state, in some cases seemingly hanging by memory as much as by structural integrity. A lack of manpower has affected safety inspections. This state of affairs contains the seeds of disaster, as we have been reminded by the failure of a cable holding a huge neon sign for a nightclub, leaving it hanging precariously over busy Nathan Road, Mong Kok. Traffic was disrupted for more than six hours while cranes were brought in to lower it safely. The basic facts are disturbing. The nightclub ignored an order to remove the sign issued more than a year ago, prompting the Buildings Department to issue a warning last August. The department ordered it torn down in the interests of public safety, but Liu Fuk-hing, of the Association of Government Technical and Survey Officers, said it did not have enough staff, as inspectors were struggling with a backlog of 50,000 notices awaiting follow-up action. In a city where lighting suspended over pavements and roads is common, this is a frightening situation. The history to it is just as disturbing. Urban residents who have long lived with a jumble of colourful signs have always assumed, wrongly, that they have all passed inspection. Nearly three years ago, the government announced a crackdown on 190,000 unauthorised signboards. However, later the same year, according to association president Yung Chun-chiu, the department shrank the inspection team from 800 to 600 in a restructuring exercise. In the past, the government has turned a blind eye to structures that posed "no immediate danger". The To Kwa Wan building collapse that claimed four lives should have opened its eyes. Now the department says it takes its manpower situation seriously and will maintain communications with the inspectors' union, and fight for extra resources when deemed necessary. Now does not seem a moment too soon.
