The Housing Bureau expressed concern over units affected by water seepage at the transitional housing project T-Loft@Kai Tak and said it is closely liaising with the project’s operator to provide technical support and advice.
 
The bureau explained that upon noting in early May this year that some units of the project were identified as experiencing water seepage, it immediately sought to gain a better understanding of the situation with the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals (TWGHs), architectural consultants and contractor of the transitional housing project.
 
The TWGHs then promptly instructed the architectural consultants and contractor of the project to carry out rectifications and improvements as soon as possible, including conducting emergency inspection and repair works of the water pipes for the affected tenants.
 
Additionally, the task force on transitional housing under the bureau is closely liaising with the TWGHs to provide technical support and advice, and had meetings with the parties concerned including the respective District Council members to discuss follow-up actions.
 
The project contractor completed the emergency repair works for water pipes in early May, and inspection and rectification works for the pipes were completed between June and July for all 40 units granted entrance by the households.
 
The contractor also arranged repair works, including replacing wall panels for affected tenants whose units were identified with water seepage. As at end-July, the project contractor has completed the required rectifications for around 60 affected units granted entrance by the tenants.
 
The TWGHs has been liaising with the remaining 20 or so households who were unable to let the maintenance staff in earlier for inspection or repairs. The TWGHs aims to complete all rectification works by September, but pointed out that a small number of tenants refused to give the maintenance staff entry for the rectification works.
 
Under Secretary for Housing Victor Tai, together with the TWGHs, architectural consultants and the project contractor had a site inspection at T-Loft@Kai Tak and met the tenants yesterday. He reiterated that the team has to carry out the necessary rectifications for the affected units as soon as possible.
 
The bureau has also instructed the TWGHs to carry out comprehensive inspection for the entire project, including the households and common area not affected by the incident, according to the established procedures and regulatory requirements.
 
Meanwhile, the task force gave a detailed account of the situation and follow-up actions at the meeting of the Social Services, Housing & Development Planning Committee under the Kowloon City District Council on August 1.
 
Noting that numerous projects are constructed using the Modular Integrated Construction (MiC) approach with assured standard, the bureau made it clear that the water seepage in this case is not related to MiC.
 
Furthermore, the bureau said that with the support of the task force, the non-government organisations operating the transitional housing projects would engage their own professional consultant teams for the design, building control and inspection works of the projects.
 
The inspection standards and procedures, regardless of the MiC modules or other structures and works, must strictly comply with the relevant regulations to ensure the quality of transitional housing projects are up to standard, it added.