(Translation)

(Letterhead of the Secretariat of Legislative Councillors & Research Centre

of the Democratic Party)

3 January 1997

Mrs. Vivian KAM
Chief Assistant Secretary (1) 2
LegCo Secretariat

Dear Mrs. Kam,

In preparation for the meeting of the LegCo Panel on Housing to be held on 13 January 1997, I would like to raise the following questions. Please convey them to the Housing Branch and urge for an early written reply from the Administration.

1. A number of repair orders were issued in regard of Kwun Lung Lau (KLL) by the Buildings Department in 1994/95. Was the consultancy commissioned by the Housing Society (HS) solely responsible for the design of the maintenance projects as well as the survey conducted upon completion of the works? Has the Administration prepared any independent survey report? Please provide the Panel with the executive summary of the report.

2. The Buildings Department has indicated that the building structure and foundation of KLL did not have any "immediate danger". According to the report of the consultancy and the independent survey report prepared by the Administration, is KLL still safe to live under any circumstances (such as during typhoon and heavy rainfall) after permanent stabilization works mentioned above have been conducted? What is the margin of safety of the buildings?

3. What is the condition of the soil texture as well as the stability of the foundation in KLL? Is there any report and data on the soil texture and foundation kept in the Geotechnical Engineering Office which can be used to reflect the safety standard of KLL?

4. How many vacant public rental housing flats on Hong Kong Island does the Housing Authority (HA) have at present? What are the estimated numbers of vacant flats in each year from now up to 2006?

5. How many public rental housing flats will be produced by the HA on Hong Kong Island in the next ten years?

6. Has the HS asked for assistance from the HA in rehousing tenants affected by the redevelopment of KLL? Please provide the Panel with the relevant correspondence concerning the request.

7. When did the HS decide to redevelop KLL and Tanner Hill Estate? Is there any paper indicating when such policy decision was made as well as the objectives of the redevelopment programmes? Please provide the Panel with the relevant paper.

8. Rehousing form entitled "Rehousing Aspiration Survey" has been distributed to tenants of the two estates by the HS. Please provide the Panel with a copy of the form. How will the HS make use of these rehousing forms returned by the tenants?

9. How many households are affected by the redevelopment programmes of KLL (phase I) and Tanner Hill Estate?

10. Please provide such information as locations of the estates, age of the buildings, rental of the units(after rent increase of this year) and the numbers of vacant flats in each of the HS estates which could be used for rehousing affected tenants of redevelopment programmes.

(signed)
LAM Pui-yee
for Hon LEE Wing-tat
Chairman, LegCo Panel on Housing

---