The New Year's Eve is traditionally a day to reunite with family members. However, due to the expiration of the lease and license of the Haitian Nursing Home in Kau To Shan, Shatin, more than 50 elderly people and more than 20 employees need to move out on the 29th day of the Lunar New Year.
The parting is imminent, and everyone is reluctant to part.
Most of the residents are in their 80s or 90s. They originally planned to spend their time in the nursing home. They were all saddened to hear the news of the relocation. Since they were going to move out before the Lunar New Year, many residents were worried that there would be nowhere to stay in the Year of the Tiger.
The relocation encountered the epidemic of the century, and the epidemic prevention measures were tightened.
With no on-the-spot inspection, it is difficult for family members to find suitable residential homes for the elderly, and they are also helpless.
At the beginning of 2022, the residents and family members of Haitian Nursing Home will face a double blow.
On January 5, in response to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pneumonia variant Omicron, the government suspended visits to all residential care homes and residential care homes for the disabled for two weeks starting from Jan 7. On the 31st, the 29th of the lunar year, we moved out.
The hospital said that on January 7, it received a notice of “Enforcement Regulations” from the SWD, stating that it had repeatedly requested the institution to discuss relocation arrangements with the residents and their family members. day.
Haitian Nursing Home has been in operation for 19 years. As of February this year, there are 8 elderly people over 5 years old, 5 of whom have lived for more than 11 years, and the oldest elderly person is 17 years old.
Chen Ruixin's mother-in-law is 92 years old this year. She originally planned to spend her life in a nursing home. "I don't want to change the stalk. All the girls are good, and the bosses are all good." After receiving the news, 86-year-old resident Luo Simei " I can't get it, I can't get it." When it comes to leaving the nursing home, everyone is sad.
Family members are even more hesitant. With the tightening of epidemic prevention measures, it is difficult to find suitable residential homes for the elderly (see separate article for details).
Mr. Wu's 100-year-old mother has lived in Haitian Nursing Home for more than 12 years, and he has no clue about the relocation: "I can't even look at the home if I look at the home, what do you want me to do? What I want most is to hope that the owners will show sympathy and fulfill their social responsibilities. (The Social Welfare Department said) We ignore the rental disputes. As a supervisor (department), it is purely about the rules and regulations. The next batch of people depends on a large number of people influenced by their families, not only the inmates but also their families.”
Forced eviction under the epidemic double blow
Elderly feel sad after hearing the news, hope to live in Haitian
Chen Ruixin's 92-year-old mother-in-law originally planned to spend the rest of her life in a nursing home. "I don't want to change my stalks. All the girls are doing well, and the bosses are all doing well." (Photo by Weng Yuhui)
The nursing home claimed that it was misled by the owner, which led to the forced eviction of its residents at the end of the year.
It involves complex land rezoning and tenancy issues.
According to the information, a piece of land at No. 5800, Tai Po Road (Ma Liushui Section), Shatin, is a green belt.
In 2018, the owner applied for the rezoning of the green belt for residential use, and planned to build two 11-storey residential buildings, providing a total of 68 units.
This application caused the nursing home, which had been operating at the above site for 17 years, to be involved in land and leasing turmoil.
The Lands Department requires the owners to revise and close the nursing home or apply to the Department for a short-term exemption to allow the nursing home to continue operating.
Haitian Nursing Home slams the owner for misleading
The owner applied to the Lands Department for a short-term exemption in May 2021. During the process, the nursing home has been providing documents to assist the owner, and promised to share the short-term exemption fee with the owner.
The nursing home and the owner renewed the contract until January 31, 2022; and the Social Welfare Department, taking into account the land rezoning and leasing situation, only granted a six-month license, which is valid until January 31, 2022.
However, during the period of applying for the short-term exemption, while waiting for the approval of the Town Planning Board to operate the nursing home in the green belt, "on July 29 and November 29 of the previous year (the owners) both sent letters from lawyers to retire the building when they were due, and verbally ( He told the nursing home operator that he was unreasonable and acted so that the land administration could see that he had no intention of violating the lease. The application was all made by Haitian. Enter.” Mr. Liang, a volunteer consultant at Haitian Nursing Home, said that they always thought that the owner would continue to renew the lease to the home after January 31, 2022.
It was not known until December 21, 2021 that the owner's real intention was to repossess the building.
Because even though the Town Planning Board has approved the operation of the nursing home in the green belt, the owner forwarded the notice of repossession to the Social Welfare Department for the first time on December 20 last year.
"The SWD received a letter and felt that we were concealing it. When I asked about our words, I thought we were wrong." The director, Mrs. Liang, and the operator, Mr. Wu, were surprised because they had been cooperating with the owner for the past year. Apply for a short-term waiver, and Haitian is the only possible tenant under their understanding.
They learned from the owner that the owner insisted on December 25 that he was worried about the government’s resumption of the land, and insisted that the nursing home must be relocated before January 31, otherwise, “It’s so simple to send a lawyer’s letter, and a bailiff may be notified ( Officers).” The nursing home immediately sent a letter to the Lands Department and received a reply that the land would not be repossessed during the short-term exemption period (withhold lease enforcement action (including re-entry action).
Even so, the owner emphasized that a lawyer's letter had been issued in July and November last year to remind that the building would be repossessed on January 31, 2022, and a 3-month written notice had been provided for the nursing home to arrange for the elderly to move out.
The nursing home believes that it was misled by the owner during the process, or pursues legal proceedings, but it needs to solve the urgent problem first: "Our main reason is that (the owner) will continue to renew the lease to us, but the chance is very slim. Will there be a short-term lease? Ask us to arrange the original resettlement in the local area, so that we can build a new institution for the transition? Or how long will it take for us to retreat and drive people out of the street on January 31 for no reason?” said Mr. Wu, the operator. .
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