Residents of Hong Kong housing blocks face rough week as 520 Kwun Tong flats go without power and some water
Residents bracing themselves for uncomfortable week owing to rigid rule that means at least one week needed to restore services fully
Amid sweltering temperatures in Hong Kong, residents of two apartment blocks in Kwun Tong are boiling with anger after the electricity supply to all 520 households and water supply to about half of them failed over the weekend.
And they are bracing themselves for an uncomfortable week ahead owing to a rigid buildings management rule that means at least one week is needed to restore services fully, which is estimated to cost HK$1.8 million.
The chairwoman of the apartments’ owners’ committee, who gave her name only as Ms Wong, called on the government to relax the rules for this “special case”.
According to the Building Management Ordinance, work that exceeds or is likely to exceed HK$200,000 in cost must be procured by invitation to tender. Whether a tender submitted for the purpose is accepted or not should be decided by a resolution of the owners passed at a general meeting, and a notice period of at least 14 days is needed for such a meeting.