Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) President Wilson Hon Wai said yesterday that three tenants living in the government’s high-rise rental residential building for senior citizens on Plot P in Areia Preta district have requested that their lease be cancelled due to the stench affecting the area near the building, or for “other personal reasons”.
Hon made the remarks while speaking to reporters after attending a committee meeting in the Legislative Assembly (AL).
Hon’s remarks came after the government said on Monday that the ongoing cleaning of sewer pipes under the site of the newly completed temporary housing project, located next to the rental residential building for seniors, has been identified as one of the sources of the ongoing stench affecting the neighbourhood near the peninsula’s northern waterfront.
The government also said on Monday that the sewer cleaning work is expected to be completed by the end of this week.
Plot P is a large plot near the peninsula’s northern coast, where the rental residential building for seniors is located and where the government’s temporary housing project was completed at the end of last year. The newly completed temporary housing estate comprising eight towers is earmarked for property owners affected by urban renewal projects to rent temporarily during the redevelopment of their former homes.
Tenants have gradually moved into their flats in batches since mid-October last year after the rental housing estate for seniors, the first of its kind in the government’s housing programme, was inaugurated in late September.
The high-rise has a total of 1,815 studio-style units. Its podium levels are now equipped with various facilities such as a clubhouse, a health facility and a restaurant.
Hon acknowledged yesterday that the government has recently received complaints from tenants of 10 units about being affected by the foul odour.
According to Hon, the findings of an investigation showed that in some of the 10 flats, the stench was emanating from outside, while in the other flats, the reek was merely due to the respective tenants’ failure to pour water into the toilet trap.
Among the 10 tenants, according to Hon, three have requested that their lease be cancelled due to the stench, or for “other personal reasons”.
Hon did not mention whether the three tenants’ leases have actually been cancelled.
The other seven have requested that they be allowed to move to other flats in the high-rise, Hon said.
Concerning the seven tenants’ request, Hon said, the government was studying the extent to which different flats in the building are being affected by the stench, before “making proper arrangements accordingly”.
Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) President Wilson Hon Wai talks to reporters in the Legislative Assembly (AL) yesterday. – Photo: Ginnie Liang
