How can the 30,000 units of simple public housing solve the problem of subdivided housing for 100,000 households and about 220,000 people?
The purpose of setting up the Housing Bureau is to deal with housing policies, not to build buildings.
Speaking of building, the Housing Department can actually do it, as long as the government builds additional interim housing.
What is the difference between these 30,000 simple public housing units and interim housing units?
Their cost is very close to that of transit houses. If their cost is half of that of transit houses, and they need to be specially handled without bidding, and they can be done directly to save money, then I think it is better for the Housing Bureau to deal with them directly. Worth a try.
However, the Housing Bureau is now using the traditional bureaucratic model to deal with the problem of simple public housing, which is basically superfluous.
The essence of the Housing Bureau is to deal with housing policies, what is to deal with housing policies?
Government officials and the Director of the Accountability Bureau should remember: policies are related to "laws".
The poor subdivided housing situation requires "laws" to improve the ecological environment, eliminate some low-quality subdivided housing, and allow tenants to obtain a comfortable and reasonable living environment for development. This is the primary task of the policy bureau.
It is not the responsibility of a government department to solve the problem of subdivided housing for 220,000 people. Even if the Legislative Council approves the allocation of funds to build 30,000 simple public housing units, everyone applauds and praises the great achievements of the Housing Bureau, and praises the 30,000 public housing units. it is good!
The housing bureau has done a great job!
But this is still only 30,000 units, and it may not be completed until two years later.
There are now 100,000 subdivided households in Hong Kong, so how to deal with the remaining 70,000 subdivided households?
Government officials need to use their brains when speaking, and they should not just say some slogans like in TV dramas.
Of course, government officials will say: "It is better to have something than nothing." Then I will also say: I don't know whether government officials are "better to have something than nothing" or "Nothing is better than nothing."
Back to a serious question: the Housing Bureau should start from the "law" to solve the problem of subdivided housing, study the loopholes in the current subdivided housing laws and how to improve them; The Construction Bureau, MTR, Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, etc. provide different types of wooden housing institutions or groups to discuss how to create a better and better living environment in the supply chain, so that low-income people have the possibility to live and work in peace and contentment. right way.
We should not turn Kai Tak Kai Tak Landfill into a simple public housing landfill.
Why not look for land in the eighteenth district?
Each of the 18 districts has a responsibility. Each district is responsible for at least 10,000 units. Within two years, each district will build two to three 30-story buildings, which can meet the needs and are absolutely feasible.
The policy bureau should conduct research in this direction instead of creating another social conflict.
The current practice is to wait for the Legislative Council to approve the appropriation, which is tantamount to solving the problem.
But the problem is not actually resolved, and the approach is not politically correct.
The figures are very honest, 30,000 units will be built, but what about the remaining 70,000 subdivided households?
Why 30,000 units?
Not fifty thousand?
Not seventy thousand?
There are a lot of these basic math problems, and once they enter the government's Grand View Garden, they can't be justified, and officials always insist that they are right.
However, even if members of the Legislative Council approve an allocation of 26 billion yuan, there will only be 30,000 units of simple public housing. How will the remaining subdivided housing tenants be dealt with?
Has the government explained it?
The government must have a sense of proportion and a division of labor in its work.
The policy bureau must look at the overall situation and deal with the overall situation, not just focus on the number of 30,000 households and the emotional consumption of home visits.
If everyone really sympathizes with the subdivided housing households, there should not be only 30,000 units, but the problem should be dealt with ecologically.
There are many ways to deal with the problem of subdivided housing. For example, first encourage private development to rebuild in factory areas, and provide five-year interim housing opportunities. After five years, you can move out and return to the original appearance.
Now let's go to the old districts to see that a 30-storey building can be built within a year.
The simple public housing launched by the government this time uses the modular composite construction (MiC) model, and the cost of construction is really a bit staggering.
Why use MiC if it doesn't speed up build times?
I see no reason why.
The government should encourage "subdivided housing" with a healthy business model. Let's do the math. There are 100,000 households with subdivided housing, and the median monthly rent for subdivided housing is 4,800 yuan, which is an economic ecology of 500 million yuan per month and 6 billion yuan per year.
Of course, there are companies willing to participate in a 6 billion rental market.
The government can use a business model to provide a reasonable living environment, which is what it should do.
How many of the 100,000 subdivided households are in dire straits?
The government did not conduct research and analysis.
The data is inconsistent because the government did not really do serious research. It just did a small amount of home visits and did public relations shows. It didn’t really go to the area to do research to find out what the real living environment is like, and to explain to the public clearly the living problems of the current 100,000 subdivided households and public housing. What is the real situation of the 240,000 applicants on the waiting list?
The bureaucrats will definitely win the game of "possession number" with everyone, but the losers are all Hong Kong people.
If the bureaucrats only take their so-called victory this time as an indicator, but do not formulate an effective housing policy to face Hong Kong's housing problem, the result will actually be a failure.
The current situation is very strange: isn't it said that the Deputy Secretary for Financial Services, Wong Wai-lun, is in charge of housing planning? Why did the Deputy Secretary for Administration, Zhuo Yongxing, come out to speak again?
If the ultimate main responsibility for the housing problem in Hong Kong is Chief Executive Li Jiachao, then how does Li Jiachao take his stance?
If you say something sad, the Legislative Council can allocate funds, but after allocating funds, only 30,000 units will be added, so what about the remaining 70,000 subdivided households?
As Chief Executive, Li Jiachao must figure out how to divide his team, what the bureau chief does, and what the director does. He should not condone the strange and unreasonable phenomenon of handing over the work that should have been started by the housing department to the housing bureau.
The author Hu Enwei is a member of the National Hong Kong and Macao Studies Association, a member of the Jiangsu Provincial CPPCC, and Zuni.
Joint Art Director and CEO of Icosahedron.
The article is only the opinion of the author and does not represent the position of Hong Kong 01.
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