Editorial | Fix ‘bomb’ buildings in Hong Kong before it is too late
- With reports of pieces of concrete falling from ageing Hong Kong structures, more than half of properties in a new survey were found to be at ‘immediate risk’
Ageing buildings with structural defects are ticking “bombs” that must be urgently defused, according to yet another call for better maintenance and inspections. The latest warning comes from surveyors and a political party after they did an assessment of 47 buildings and found more than half of them were at “immediate risk”.
The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Institution of Building Inspectors released their survey on Monday. Island East lawmaker Edward Leung Hei said their findings would be passed on to government departments and officials urged to ensure essential maintenance was carried out “as soon as possible”.
Structures targeted for inspections did not have owners’ corporations or residents’ groups and were not maintained by property management companies. Using drones and an infrared thermal scanner, they found 25 buildings with defects such as finishes that could fall off, cracks, rust or water stains.
It is important that the study is not ignored. The findings underscore the alarm raised in Hong Kong after at least 18 reports of concrete and debris falling from buildings since July. In some cases, pedestrians were hurt and vehicles damaged. Typhoons and wet weather may have been factors, but it is increasingly clear that poor maintenance and lax building safety enforcement were underlying causes. Shorter waiting times for inspections may help. Leung said some surveys took up to five years to organise at sites taking part in the Urban Renewal Authority’s “Operation Building Bright 2.0”.
With hundreds of problem buildings already identified, vigilance by the public appears to be an immediate solution. Leung urged residents to report defects “so we can defuse these ‘bombs’ in the community”. The surveyors’ institution said broader use of thermal scanners could help reveal structural integrity issues.