Delivering the final policy address of her current term last week, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor rightly and belatedly pledged to improve the dissemination of information and communication with the public within her administration. Yet she apparently set a bad example over the weekend, when her remarks about making the Housing Authority pay cash subsidies to those waiting for public rental flats created a backlash. An embarrassed Lam sought to play down the controversy yesterday, saying: “It was just meant to be an interesting idea.” It appeared more than that on Sunday when, during a television interview, she talked about ways to make the authority more accountable and to speed up the supply of flats. “The cash subsidies are currently paid by the government,” she said, referring to the HK$2,250 to HK$3,900 a month allowance for those who have been in the housing queue for more than three years. “But why shouldn’t it be the Housing Authority? If you build the estates slowly, you would have to pay,” she said. Lam’s remarks have, not surprisingly, upset some authority members, who accused her of shifting the blame. When questioned yesterday, Lam said the issue would have been included in her policy address if it was to be officially proposed. She then hit out at the media for “creating meaningless social contradictions”, and suggested outlets may have wanted quarrels even though disputes were not constructive. As for the authority, she praised it for its efforts over the years, but added there was room for improvement when it came to speeding up the building of flats. Hong Kong leader back-pedals on suggestion Housing Authority pay for subsidies As head of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Lam must know that her every word and action counts. Instead of floating ideas that may not be seriously pursued, the government should work closely with stakeholders to come up with more concrete and effective solutions. As some authority members pointed out, the current waiting time for public housing – 5.8 years as opposed to the pledged three years – involves a wealth of policy and procedural issues. It will be demoralising if the efforts of the authority are not given due recognition. Whether a change in cash subsidies is the answer is a matter for further discussion. However, it must not distract from the fact that there should be sufficient affordable accommodation for those in need. It is also intriguing that Lam talked about boosting the accountability of the authority, but stopped short of reflecting more on the inadequacies of her team. After all, any housing shortfall is the collective responsibility of the government. The chief executive is accountable to both Beijing and Hong Kong. The buck stops with the city’s leader.