‘Severely mouldy’: Hong Kong housing chief criticises contractor over transitional homes project where rainwater has leaked into hundreds of flats
- Contractor hired by pro-Beijing group’s foundation under fire over homes at project in Kam Tin in New Territories, with water seepage affecting about 219 unfinished flats
- Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho says company will repair 219 flats, including 58 that firm has labelled ‘severely mouldy’ after rainwater leaked into them
Hong Kong’s housing chief has criticised a contractor of a foundation run by a pro-Beijing group for “poorly” managing the construction of a government-subsidised transitional homes project where rainwater has leaked into hundreds of flats, damaging at least 50.
Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin on Sunday reassured the public that the more than 1,000 transitional homes for the project, known as “The NAScenT”, would be delivered on time. But she questioned the quality of work performed by Shui On Building Contractors, which had been hired by the New Territories Association of Societies (Community Services) Foundation.
“The contractor and its suppliers managed some aspects poorly,” she said in response to media questions at a public event to promote transitional housing, adding authorities would closely monitor the repairs the company promised to carry out at the New Territories site.
The government granted the foundation HK$576 million (US$73.6 million) in public funds to deliver and manage 1,028 transitional units in Kam Tin, which were scheduled for completion in the final quarter of this year.
But 219 flats, or about one-fifth, have been hit by rainwater leaks since April. The contractor said 58 of those flats had become “severely mouldy” as a result.
“The contractor is taking full responsibility and promised to complete the project and the [repair works] simultaneously. We will closely follow up on this,” Ho said.
The homes are built using the “modular integrated construction” technique, which employs free-standing, integrated modules from a mainland Chinese factory that undergo quality inspections before being installed at the project site.