The demolition of Shizai Ling residential home fails to "seamlessly hand over" Elders bombard the government to lie for judicial review

Burst

Written by: Li Jingshan, Huang Weimin

2020-05-10 00:00

Boom! Boom! Boom! Peng ... Shiziling Garden, located in the north of Gudong, was originally a peaceful land for the elderly, but now it is surrounded by piling sounds.

Under the great wheel of the times, the garden plots turned into a pile of land codes, which need to be purchased by developers to build private houses. The Shizailing Home for the Elderly took shape in 1998. For 22 years, the feelings of caregivers, operators and residential elders have been filled. Only because of a development plan, the green trees will be levelled into loess and then turned into tall buildings. The government has found a place nearby to build a new building for residential care homes. It is expected to move in in 2023. The current Chief Secretary for Administration, Zhang Jianzong, served as the Secretary for Labour and Welfare in 2014. The promise made the elders look forward to it. However, as the deadline for demolition and relocation is getting closer, the "seamless handover" is still indefinite, which makes the elderly in accommodation feel that it is a lie of the government.

The 150 elders affected by the first phase of the demolition plan will have to move out before June 30, but they still do n’t know where to go. Some male residents are angry and put forward the government ’s failure to honor the promise of “seamless handover” Judicial review, hoping to overturn the removal decision, and even more refusal to move out: "Remove and pull out the banner (banner)! Do not go!"

Since 1998, it has become an old village. The elders believe that the ancient cave north Shiziling Garden is the place to spend the rest of their lives. The 150 elders affected by the first phase of the demolition plan face the relocation of the dead line on June 30. They still do not know what to do. (Photo by Huang Weimin)

In order to advance the plan for the New Development Area of ​​Kwu Tung North, the government will demolish 15 private residential care homes in Shiziling Garden in two phases. Over 1,000 residential elders living there will lose their happy land. Six years ago, two elders living in Shiziling Garden went to the Legislative Council to complain and wept and knelt down to ask, but they still could not change the general trend of the development of Gukdong North. At that time, Zhang Jianzong, the then Secretary for Labour and Welfare and the current Chief Secretary for Administration, promised:

I hope we can brainstorm, straighten things up, do a good job of transition, and make a seamless handover.

Qiu Yingqiang, who claims to be "Gossip Qiu", is 65 years old this year. He stayed in Shiziling after a stroke 14 years ago. Although he is not good at his behavior, his brain is still clear. Recall that when I heard it, I could seamlessly hand over, "I do n’t have a lot of artillery battles to celebrate the elders, the government is really good, and everyone is holding your finger up to praise. The government is really good, and the new building is up to me. live". The fact is that it was suggested to move away from Shiziling, or even to move home, or move to other institutions in Shiziling to do "sardines". Qiu Bo was very worried that the elders older than him could not bear the blow. He passed away.

The first phase of demolition affects all the resettlement of 150 residents

The 25 "Kangyuan Nursing Homes for the Elderly" in Shiziling belong to the scope of the first phase of demolition. The operator Zhang Shiping said that the 28 elders in the hospital have not yet settled. First of all, the wishes of the family members and the elderly mostly hope to enjoy their old age in Shiziling. Secondly, they are subject to the regulations. Each residential home has a limited number of places and not every residential home can accept new people. The Labour and Welfare Bureau responded to the Legislative Council members in April this year, stating that it is refitting the third block that is not affected by the first phase of demolition to provide additional places. Zhang Shiping explained that the third building is two stories high and is not allowed to operate upstairs residential homes without lifts under the regulations of the Residential Care Homes for Persons with Disabilities. It can provide 24 places in the third basement, and the 17th seat is not available on the second floor. However, as many as 150 residents were affected by the first phase of demolition.

Zhang Shiping continued that in addition to Block 25, there are 2 private residential buildings in the second phase of the demolition area, but even with pin-type extra beds, it can only accommodate "10 8 elderly". The SWD hopes to arrange the existing vacant places in Shiziling to the affected elders. Zhang Shiping and another operator, Chen Huangjinwang, said: "(With other operators in Shiziling) Nothing, no gain, no dumping." In addition to considering the problem of insufficient beds, the elderly also have poor adaptability, and it is easy to have friction with other residents or caregivers. Other operators may not be willing to accept new people, resulting in more than 100 elderly affected by the first phase of demolition. Not settled. "Seamless handover? There is a seam in your home," Zhang Shiping said helplessly.

The SWD replied to the "Hong Kong 01" enquiry that, according to the records, the existing vacant beds in the homes not affected by the first phase of demolition (ie within the scope of the second phase) in Shi Chai Ling were taken into consideration, and Block 3 was converted into The new places in the residential care homes, as well as the additional beds planned by other homes, are expected to have enough places for the 150 residents in the residential care homes within the second phase of Shiziling.

Shiziling Senior Village is a special community where operators, caregivers and elders get along well, but I am afraid that because of the demolition project, a piece of happy land will have to separate things. (Photo by Huang Weimin)

I have repeatedly emphasized that we are very concerned about the arrangement of Shiziling ...... This is a dilemma. To move forward, and to have a lot of public housing land, everyone knows.

Shizailing converts private residential land into land sale plan for the second half of the year

"Later, there was even more outrageous news that the government was building a mansion to sell land, burying old, weak, sick, and aside. When my grandpa and grandma arrived, it was really going to kill this government." Uncle Qiu said sadly. Describe the Hong Kong government as a "liar government".

Uncle Qiu ’s dissatisfaction came from the fact that in February this year, the Hong Kong Government announced in the Budget the plan for land sales in the second half of the year. Among them, the FSDTL279 Area 25, Kwu Tung area 1.86 hectares of land is exactly the first phase of the demolition of Shiziling. The place where the elders have settled into a pile of land codes is waiting for developers to reach out their hands. According to the "Kutong North Zoning Plan Draft No. S / KTN / 1", the land in the first phase of the removal of Shiziling will be developed into a commercial / residential development and public transport interchange, adjacent to the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Gdong Station, which is important for future development Lot.

In the absence of proper implementation of the "seamless handover", the government is still eager to sell the land, Zhang Shiping is puzzled: "The government of Shiziling is not sure if you want to cut (shovel), cut The purpose of the channel is to sell the land as soon as possible and change it as soon as possible. I understand that a lot of Hong Kong people need to live in public housing, but it does n’t matter if it ’s a family, it ’s a private house and a land sale. This one is out of touch, so there is no justice, I think. "

The Development Bureau replied "Hong Kong 01" that the above-mentioned lot was included in the 2020-21 land sale plan, and it will also provide a public transport interchange for private residential development purposes. The site is expected to provide about 1,300 units, and the actual number of units will depend on the developer ’s development plan. The government will announce the land sale plan for the land in due course.

The government arranged the third and 17th blocks of the original warehouse as a transition. According to the Regulations on Residential Care for the Disabled, there is no lift to operate upstairs homes. In fact, it can only provide 24 places in the third basement, 17C The seat on the second floor was also unavailable. The picture shows the third seat. (Photo by Huang Weimin)

We care about an elder.

Rebellious old man vows to break government lie for judicial review

The demolition scope of Shiziling is included in the land for private residential development, which means that it will be sold at a price. The news of the land sale reached the ears of the elderly. At the same time, they were constantly being advised to move away from Shiziling, or even to move home temporarily, which made the elderly feel anxious. The 61-year-old Qiu Longsheng was not good at the knee because of bacterial infection in the knee. The hospital social worker introduced him to Shiziling for more than 2 years. He described Shiziling's "good environment" and improved his ability to move after staying. Decided to stand up and apply for judicial review, hoping to overthrow the government demolition plan.

Construction of a new building for the elderly homes arranged by the government has begun. During the visit, there were repeated construction sounds of "Boom! Boom! Boom!" I am worried that in the future, the first phase of the demolition of Shiziling will start, the construction vehicles will enter and leave dust, and the noise will be even more disturbing. This judicial review is based on the government ’s failure to comply with the promise of a seamless handover. It wants to overthrow the demolition plan for the old village of Shizailing to wait for the new residential building for the elderly to be completed in 2023. Building.

Like most elders, Mr. Qiu relies on CSSA to survive and cannot afford the legal fees required for judicial review, so he will apply for legal aid at the same time, but the court suspended services during the pneumonia epidemic, and the status of legal aid approval is unknown. (May 11) Judicial review situation. I was asked what would happen if there was no progress in judicial review before the clearance deadline on June 30? Mr. Yau said indignantly: "Tear down and pull out the banner! Banner will not go!"

I care about the way out of employees, etc., because I am responsible for employment, you know it. Hundreds of employees, we will deal with it.

The Social Welfare Department replied to "Hong Kong 01" that it had registered all residents of the residential care homes affected by the first phase of demolition on March 17, 2020. A total of 150 residents were confirmed to be eligible and can be found in the complex 2023 Stayed in the residential home for the elderly after it was opened. As the lease of the residential care homes affected by the first phase of demolition will be terminated on June 30, 2020, the SWD has requested the operators of the residential care homes to submit the relocation of all affected residents in accordance with the Code of Practice for Residential Care Homes for the Elderly In the plan, the SWD will continue to liaise closely with the relevant operators to follow up the specific resettlement arrangements for each affected tenant. Depending on the wishes and actual conditions of the residents concerned, the SWD will provide appropriate assistance, including arranging qualified residents to stay in different types of places in Shiziling Garden or other places.

Institutional operators worry that employees on the road may also be unemployed

The Shiziling Garden was originally a 25-story high-rise old military barracks in the North District. In 1998, the government invited operators to settle in to provide elderly care services and became a quiet elderly village. After 22 years of hard work, Chen Jinwang, the operator, received a government subsidy of 1.5 million yuan. Chen Tai was very impressed with the arrangement: "When you need people, when Hong Kong needs service agencies, you call people in. 𠵱 You Need to 嘞, want to tart to sell land 嘞, how can you kick away the blame? You do n’t even have to ask me the operator to think about it, the net is that you have finished the lease, and you can do it for more than 20 days. In the year, I have the right to carry back 1.5 million. How can I count it? How do you use money to go away? "Upon the expiry of the contract, the company's future and the prospects of its employees will disappear.

"How does the government want to stifle a company that serves the society?" Chen Tai was dissatisfied with the "seamless handover" that the government said, ignoring operators and caregivers. The most contradictory thing is that the government often refers to the aging population of Hong Kong. It was said that the nursing home was inadequate, but it strangled the living in Shiziling. In addition, there are also difficulties in recruiting caregivers. Although Shiziling employees are willing to continue to work, they face unemployment due to demolition. Chef Deng Tianyang, who has worked in Kangyuan for 8 years, is worried that it is difficult to find work under the epidemic.

Chen Huangjinwang (left) and Zhang Shiping, operators of Shizailing Residential Care Home, questioned the government ’s claim that it valued elderly care services on the one hand, and ignored the operators on the other. (Photo by Huang Weimin)

I really appreciate that in the past 17 years (now 22 years), you (the operator of Shiziling Residential Care Home for the Elderly) have been successful and very successful. Your well-being and interests are our prerequisites, and partnerships absolutely exist .

Operator: The government arrangement is not user-friendly

In the past days, the SWD has continued to write letters or interviews with residents and operators to understand the intentions of resettlement, and their intentions clearly indicate that they want to live in Shiziling until the new building is completed, but the licensed beds The number has not been reduced so far. Mrs. Chen said: "The government will speak your name (list) and I will go to the side. If you do it yourself, you will do it yourself. I will adjust the canal and drain it. How about going to an old man? The old man does n’t care about the goods. It does n’t mean that the government can go side by side. There is a willingness to choose. "

Mrs. Chen was very worried about the future of her fellow students: "The elderly's ability to adapt is really weak. When they go to other places, when they see that the segregated person may have a loud snoring, he feels snoring. When he sees the segregated person wearing jeans, Everyone is black, and it ’s noisy, because you do n’t know the channel. So when you move to a new environment, the old man ’s mood is really low, and the government has arranged that it ’s not human enough. ”

Under the epidemic situation of Shizailing residential care home, the operator will be relocated

Northeast New Territories Development Gudong North New Development Area Zhang Jianzong Labour and Welfare Bureau Development Bureau Judicial Review Home for the Elderly