Government officials are requested to provide a reply to the following questions at the meeting of PLC Panel on Housing to be held on 15 September 97:

Regarding the requirement of proper installation of air-conditioners imposed by the Housing Department (HD) on tenants of public rental housing (PRH)

1. Which types of PRH buildings are not suitable for installing air-conditioners as far as their architectural designs are concerned? Please provide information on the year(s) of completion, distribution and district locations of such PRH buildings.

2. How can the danger of gas explosion be avoided if air-conditioners are installed in PRH buildings mentioned in Question 1?

3. What are the reasons for the unavailability of space for the installation of air-conditioners in new PRH block types (such as the Harmony blocks), whereas space for the installation of air-conditioners was provided in the earlier generations of PRH estates (such as the Trident blocks)?

4. How will the Government ensure the safety of the installation of air-conditioners in PRH blocks mentioned in Question 1? Are there any concrete plans in place?

5. The designs of Harmony blocks which are either under construction or newly completed have been altered to provide the space for installing air-conditioners. What are the reaons for such an action? Does this indicate that there are potential defects in the design of the previous generation of the Harmony blocks?

6. Concerning the PRH blocks which are under construction or newly completed as mentioned in Question(5), please provide their respective numbers.

7. What are the contents of the guidelines for the installation of air-conditioners provided by the HD? How can tenants find out whether their air-conditioners are properly and safely installed?

On triad harassment of residents in new PRH estates

1. Please provide the number of complaints lodged by residents in new PRH estates regarding harassment in respect of decoration and cleaning etc. at the time of their moving into their new homes in the past five years.

2. Does the HD consider the operation of the existing Approved Decoration Contractor System (ADCS) satisfactory? What improvements can be made?

3. How many contractors are put on the existing Approved List of Decoration Contractors? How many of these contractors have previously been warned, deleted from the List and sued?

4. Please provide a flow chart of the ADCS to indicate how the Government selects the contractors as well as the procedures for residents to engage the services of these contractors.