Government Unveils Support Measures for Wang Fuk Court Fire-Affected Residents

Rental Grant and Relocation Grant for Flat Owners and Relocation Grant for Tenants rolled out by the Support Fund for Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po

The Government announced today (December 18) that two new measures rolled out by the Support Fund for Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po will render assistance to residents affected by the fire.

The first measure is to provide affected flat owners with an annual rental grant of $150,000 and a one-off relocation grant of $50,000. The second measure is to provide affected tenants with a one-off relocation grant of $50,000. The details of the two measures are as follows –

(1) Rental grant and relocation grant for flat owners

The Support Fund will provide owners of each of the flats in Wang Fuk Court with an annual rental grant of $150,000 to give them more flexibility and choices in their accommodation arrangements. The grant will be provided for two years and disbursed on a semi-annual basis, with each payment being $75,000.

In tandem with the provision of the rental grant, the Support Fund will provide a one-off relocation grant of $50,000 to the relevant flat owners of Wang Fuk Court to subsidise the relocation and costs for replacing items such as furniture and appliances. Both grants are provided on a non-accountable basis.

Although Wang Chi House is less affected by the fire, it is still yet to be re-opened. The relevant flat owners also have accommodation needs and therefore the two grants are also applicable to owners of Wang Chi House.

The first installment of rental grant of $75,000 and the relocation grant of $50,000 will be disbursed starting from December 22 through the "one social worker per household" mechanism. The Social Welfare Department will handle the cases in accordance with the relevant land registration records and flat owners are not required to submit ownership documents.

(2) Relocation grant for tenants

Although Wang Fuk Court is not long-term or permanent accommodation for the tenants, the Support Fund will provide a one-off relocation grant of $50,000 to the original tenants of Wang Fuk Court on a discretionary basis. This will facilitate them to move from the accommodation arranged by the Government to the flats in the private market.

All original tenants of Wang Fuk Court who choose not to stay in the emergency accommodation arranged by the Government (including youth hostel/campsites/hotel rooms), the Housing Bureau's transitional housing or the Housing Society's flats can receive relocation grant when they move out from the abovementioned flats/units to the flats arranged by themselves through the private market. The relocation grant will also be provided on a non-accountable basis and through the "one social worker per household" mechanism.

In addition, for tenants who have moved into the Housing Bureau's transitional housing or the flats of the Hong Kong Housing Society, or tenants who wish to temporarily move to those flats, they will receive a rent-free period till May 31, 2026. If the tenants choose to stay in these flats of the Housing Bureau or the Hong Kong Housing Society beyond May 31, 2026, they will not receive the $50,000 relocation grant even though they eventually rent their own flats in the private market afterwards.

Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, Photo by Bastille Post

Enforcement actions against illegal hillside burial cases

The Home Affairs Department, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) and the Lands Department (LandsD) conducted a joint enforcement operation from May 5 to 13 at the two Permitted Burial Grounds (PBGs) of Tap Mun in Tai Po and Wong Kong Shan in North District against illegal hillside burials. A total of 22 illegal graves/urn houses/urns have been removed, and the human remains therein have been reburied at the Sandy Ridge Cemetery.

The FEHD and the LandsD posted notices on a total of 22 unauthorised graves/urn houses/urns located within the above-mentioned two PBGs on January 12 and March 17 this year, requiring the related persons of the graves/urn houses/urns concerned to cease occupation of the government land and to contact relevant government departments before February 12 and April 17 this year respectively, or else the human remains therein would be reburied at the Sandy Ridge Cemetery. As all the 22 graves/urn houses/urns remained unclaimed upon expiry of the deadlines, the Government commenced this joint enforcement and clearance operation.

The Government has been implementing a pilot scheme on the management of PBGs in individual PBGs since 2016. Taking into account the actual circumstances of each PBG, the Government has been implementing appropriate improvement measures, including erecting boundary pillars for the PBGs, conducting record surveys of existing graves/urn houses/urns, imposing restrictions on the size of burial sites and demarcating available spaces in PBGs for new applications of burial sites in order to ensure that the places of burials are within PBGs. The pilot scheme has now been extended to 15 PBGs, covering all nine administrative districts in the New Territories.

Having examined the data obtained from the pilot scheme, the Government has commenced enforcement actions against illegal burials in the PBGs in phases from July 2021 onwards. Besides conducting enforcement actions in the above-mentioned PBGs, the Government will also continue to take follow-up actions in other PBGs under the pilot scheme, including posting notices on other unauthorised graves/urn houses/urns before the coming Chung Yeung Festival, with a view to removing unclaimed graves/urn houses/urns as soon as possible after the expiration of the notice period.

A Government spokesman reiterated that, according to the Land (Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance (Cap. 28), it is an offence when any person occupying government land, otherwise than under permission from the Authority, does not cease the occupation as required by a notice prescribed by the Ordinance. Any property or structure on the occupied government land may be demolished and removed by the Government, and the occupier may be prosecuted. Furthermore, according to the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap. 132), it is an offence to bury human remains without the permission in writing of the Authority. Offenders are liable to prosecution, and the human remains inside the graves concerned will be removed.

Source: AI-found images