Buildings Department Flayed Over Misconnected Pipes

The Buildings Department came under fire on Monday for its “serious delay” in tackling the misconnection of sewage pipes at private buildings, with some cases remaining unresolved for over a decade.

According to the Ombudsman, the misconnection of the sewage pipes to the stormwater drainage system resulted in a huge volume of waste flowing into the sea.

An investigation found that the Buildings Department was notified of three such cases in 2009. One wasn’t rectified until last year while the other two remained unresolved as of December.

In one of the cases, an owners’ corporation was ordered to repair the pipes in 2010. The department inspected the building nine times and found the problem had not been fixed, but it waited for five years before issuing a warning letter to the owners’ corporation.

The watchdog criticised the department for failing to monitor the problem effectively, initiate investigation swiftly or deploy manpower properly for handling cases.

The department has also been indecisive when it comes to taking enforcement action, and it did not offer adequate assistance for buildings without an owners’ corporation, a residents’ committee or a management company, the Ombudsman said.

The watchdog called on the Buildings Department to come up with a schedule to handle the backlog of cases.

The department has also been advised to improve its monitoring system, carry out more on-site inspections and take enforcement action in a resolute manner.