Divorced women refuse to receive CSSA due to their savings

The government plans to empty the Shek Lei transit houses next year and demolish them for reconstruction. Among them, 79 households are not eligible for public housing and are arranged to move to Baotian transit houses temporarily. Three divorced wives, under the same roof, each bear different sorrows. Some people give birth to daughters at an advanced age, but they refuse to receive CSSA because of their dignity. They bring their 20-month-old daughters to live by "saving savings." Others suffer from long-term insomnia and psychosis after a marriage failure. During the medical follow-up consultation, the three of them all had a dream of going upstairs, but they were worried that the reconstruction would become a "second forced eviction."

While picking up items, Ms. Deng placed her nanny on the lower bed and then enclosed it with a mosquito net to prevent her from accidentally hitting the corner of the bed or other corners.

(Photo by Mo Jiawen)

Refusing to receive CSSA to live on savings

"A girl walks up and down, but the house is too narrow. After Chengri hits the corner of the platform and the corner of the bed, I am really worried that she will be stupid." Packing up the items, while enclosing the 20-month-old daughter with a mosquito net to play alone in the lower bed, to ensure that she would not step out and knock down any corners.

46-year-old Ms. Tang has an unhappy past. She divorced her husband 9 years ago and moved out of the apartment in Tsui Ping Village, Kwun Tong by herself. She was arranged to move into a transit house in Shek Lei the following year. A boyfriend fell in love and gave birth to the crystallization of love for the first time, but the other party gave up on taking care of the two mothers and daughters. She had a job and had a daughter at an advanced age. She wanted to take good care of her daughter, so she had to be a full-time housewife. I made my own savings and refused to apply for CSSA. I was short on money. Baby carriages and toy tricycles were given by neighbors or friends. The furniture was kept as simple as possible. Because there were too many baby supplies, some of them had to be placed in the corridor. The door was warned to deduct points, but people have been moving away in recent months, and after some units have been emptied, the security guards stopped interfering.

+1

The Housing Authority sends a letter to inform the relocation of the Baotian transit house

From March to April this year, Deng Nv suddenly received registration from the office of the reconstruction sub-office. She only learned that the estate would be demolished and rebuilt. At that time, a staff member told her that the two mothers and daughters should be cleared soon. She can move into public housing, but in recent months, she received a letter from the Housing Authority stating that she did not have enough points to go upstairs and would be arranged to move into a transit house in Po Tin, which made her feel a thunderbolt.

Nv Deng started to wait for public housing in 2013. In 2019, due to the birth of her daughter, she changed from a one-person applicant to a general family applicant. She had to wait for another time. According to the latest waiting period, the average time required is 5.8 years. In other words, she If it is less than 4 years after moving to the Baotian transit house next year, it will arrange to go upstairs again, and in disguise it will have to move again.

She pointed out that even if the government provides relocation subsidies, the related expenses are incalculable. What's more, the trouble is that when they move into remote areas with their young daughters, the relationship between the neighbors who used to be helped by neighbors has also been cut off, making them even more helpless.

"Baotian has to go upstairs after living for a few years. I have no money. I have to reset the furniture every time I move. How about the money? It's better for the government to help me upstairs all at once."

Ms. Kang was sent by a psychiatrist three times to indicate that she was suffering from schizophrenia and needed a stable living environment. In the end, she was still sent by the Housing Authority to transfer housing units in Po Tin.

(Photo by Mo Jiawen)

Emotional and mental problems after marriage

Also facing the same problem, Ms. Kang, in her 40s, suffered postpartum depression and mental disorders after giving birth to her second son. She moved out after divorcing her husband in 2012 and was arranged to live in a transit house in Shili the following year. For many years, it has been necessary to go to the psychiatric department of the hospital for follow-up consultations and take medication regularly. Fortunately, I have been working to provide spiritual sustenance. The two sons also visited home from time to time until they received notification from the reconstruction team office staff in recent months. I was surprised when I had to move to Baotian.

The psychiatrist who treated her has written letters three times, stating that she suffers from mental disorders and needs a stable living environment. However, the Housing Authority and the Social Welfare Department have been ignored and even arranged for her to live farther and farther. No two boys, I'm worried about emotional problems."

Maomao, who is engaged in logistics work, is also a divorced household. She also has emotional problems. She needs regular follow-up consultations and long-term use of sleeping pills to fall asleep. She has been accustomed to the life style of the transit house in Shek Lei for many years, and she travels back and forth from Shek Lei to Lai King. When commuting to and from work, I cook a simple meal or two when I go home. After that, I stay at home and stay at home. She described the relocation to the Baotian transit house as a drastic change. She worried that she would have to re-adapt to the new environment and spend more time and travel to and from work. , Once there is a little worry, he cannot fall asleep for several days, and his condition becomes serious due to emotional ups and downs.

Concern group: the number of people affected by moving to Baotian is far or lower than expected

Chen Hanyu, a member of the Shek Lei Interim Housing Resident Concern Group, said that when she learned about the latest arrangements of the Shek Lei Interim Housing, she had visited and contacted the 79 residents who were arranged to move to the Baotian Interim Housing, but only 25 of them could be contacted. Among them, 18 households are one-person households, and the remaining 7 households are two to four-person households, and other household heads have been unable to contact.

They have asked Legislative Council Members and Kwai Tsing District Councillors to directly meet the seniors of the redevelopment sub-offices of Shek Lei Village Interim Housing. The former rejected the request directly, and the latter was unable to continue due to the resignation of a large number of district councillors until the concern group was resigned. The relevant issues were raised in the regular monthly meetings of the Housing Authority, and finally received a reply from the staff of the Office of the Housing Authority for a face-to-face dialogue this Tuesday (3rd).

He believes that the number of affected households moving to Baotian transit houses is likely to be much lower than 79. This is the first time that Hong Kong has adopted a cross-district transit house relocation program. The Housing Authority should consider the demands of the residents and provide at least Options other than Po Tin include placing unpopular units that are not included in the "Express Public Housing Allocation Scheme" for the tenants to choose from, or temporarily relocating in old flats in the same district until they are allocated to the building. .

He hopes that the two parties can communicate frankly in the meeting later, instead of forcing a single plan to minimize the impact on tenants.

A group of tenants of the Shili transit house met a few days ago to discuss countermeasures.

(Photo by Mo Jiawen)

Housing Department: Some cases are referred to SWD for approval of compassionate rehousing applications

A spokesperson for the Housing Department responded that based on the information on the residents of the Interim Housing in Shek Lei at the end of October last year, it is estimated that about 79 public housing applicants have not yet reached the detailed qualification review stage under the "Advance Housing Scheme" and will be resettled in the Interim Housing in Baotian In this batch of tenants, some cases may have special reasons or justifications for the allocation of public housing, for example, they will soon be eligible for the "Advance Housing Plan", and they will be eligible for public housing allocation after having lived in Hong Kong for seven years in a short period of time And so on, the Housing Department will consider approving such special cases with sufficient grounds for relocation to public housing.

In addition, if individual households have special reasons for health or social factors, the Housing Department will refer them to the Social Welfare Department for assistance. The SWD will evaluate each case and recommend "compassionate rehousing" applications to the Housing Department for qualified persons. To be allocated public housing early.

As for the tenants who could not be contacted, the Housing Department issued another letter in mid-July this year.

As of the end of last month, five of the 79 households have not yet been contacted, and the department will continue to try to contact them through different channels.

The staff responsible for redevelopment of the Housing Department conducted 4 briefing sessions on April 18 this year to explain the relocation registration procedures and various arrangements.

Due to the fact that some residents were unable to attend the briefing session, we arranged to meet with the residents at the office again on the 3rd of this month to listen to opinions and provide assistance.

Representatives of the government’s demolition of industrial buildings and construction of public housing factories in the fourth factory requested the appeals department of the Legislative Council not to move or demolish. The person in charge of the tide: encountered unprecedented difficulties

01Community