Can Hong Kong find quick fixes for corruption in building maintenance sector?
Bid-rigging practices are back in spotlight following deadly Tai Po blaze but how widespread is the problem and how do syndicates work?
Since taking the helm of the owners’ corporation at her Hong Kong housing estate 12 years ago, Chan Wai-ling has received numerous reports of falling concrete, water leakage and other problems that should have been fixed during multimillion-dollar renovations a decade ago.
“Whenever there is a typhoon, water leaks into our homes and damages the walls … We cannot sleep as we have to look out for the leakage,” said Chan, 63, referring to Grandway Garden, a subsidised housing estate in Tai Wai where flat owners paid HK$91 million (US$11.7 million) for renovations.
The 864-flat, three-block estate recently hired a contractor to carry out additional repairs costing each household at least HK$10,000. That was on top of the HK$70,000 to HK$110,000 that owners each paid for major works conducted between 2013 and 2016.
“It’s as if the renovation never took place,” said Chan, chairwoman of the owners’ corporation management committee.
They also sought a meeting for more project details, but the then chairman failed to address residents’ corruption allegations, and eventually resigned after at least 5 per cent of the owners called for a re-election, Chan said.
The meeting – which under the law should have been held within 45 days – failed to proceed for months in 2013. Owners sought help from the Home Affairs Department, but were told to resolve the dispute in court.