香港消防退款增多，於整理混亂記錄後

Home affairs chief Alice Mak says administrator still managing process of settling contracts after organising 800,000 documents Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po. Photo: Karma Lo The administrator of the fire-hit Hong Kong estate is still settling contracts and gradually issuing refunds to owners after organising hundreds of thousands of documents, the city’s home affairs minister has said in response to residents’ concerns. Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak Mei-kuen said on Saturday that Hop On Management Company, the government-appointed administrator of Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, was gradually refunding owners from the remaining balance of the estate’s major repair fund and prepaid management fees. She explained that the company was settling various contracts signed by the owners’ corporation, which contained termination terms and compensation provisions, and it had organised more than 800,000 documents to check residents’ payments and deposits. Mak did not specify which contracts were involved. “It is quite chaotic. Hop On has to organise records that have not been tidied up over the past several decades,” she told a radio show. Mak stressed that owners would be able to receive refunds from the estate’s funds, even if they accepted the government’s buy-back plan. Homeowners have been offered a cash buyout or a “flat-for-flat” exchange for new subsidised homes across 10 designated projects under the Housing Authority or Housing Society. They must sign a formal sales agreement by October 15. Hop On said earlier that more than 90 per cent of homeowners had completed refund registrations and that it would issue cheques gradually. It has so far issued refunds totalling more than HK$100 million (US$12.7 million). Mak’s remarks came a week after Hop On hosted a six-hour extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on Sunday, at which homeowners demanded greater clarity about the condition of their flats. Home affairs chief Alice Mak says administrator Hop On is still managing the process of settling contracts signed by the owners’ corporation. Photo: Jonathan Wong Residents also repeatedly asked during the meeting for the release of a government inspection report about the condition of the flats, after the estate was devastated by a fire last November that engulfed seven of the estate’s eight towers and killed 168 people. Speaking on Saturday, Mak said owners had raised questions that were outside Hop On’s statutory responsibilities, and the company had indicated that it would forward such views and inquiries to the relevant departments. Unhandled type: inline-plus-widget {"type":"inline-plus-widget"} “Hop On has fulfilled its responsibility as an administrator to refer such views,” Mak said after the radio show. “We hope everyone can understand that Hop On, as the government-appointed administrator, has done a massive amount of work over the past few months.” In response to residents’ dissatisfaction with the arrangement of the EGM, Mak said Hop On had to organise the meeting in accordance with statutory requirements and had sought to facilitate homeowners’ participation, as the families were currently living in different districts. “As Hop On prepares for the next meeting, I believe Hop On must first consider statutory requirements, such as the procedures of convening a meeting, and how it can facilitate homeowners’ participation,” Mak said. A motion to hold the next owners’ meeting within two months was passed at the EGM with 91.8 per cent of votes in favour. Ahead of the meeting, some joint owners said they were not allowed to enter the venue, while members of some families had to attend the session by watching a livestream at different locations.