'More Support Needed For Future Kai Tak Residents'

A concern group for subdivided flats on Wednesday called on the government to ensure there is enough social support in Kai Tak if it does develop light public housing in the district.

Officials plan to build 10,700 temporary flats on Olympic Avenue, near the Kai Tak MTR station. But some have expressed concerns that the new development might overwhelm the neighbourhood or even undermine the district's positioning as a core business hub.

Lai Kin-kwok, a member of the Hong Kong Subdivided Flats Concerning Platform, said while his group supports building short-term flats in Kai Tak, the administration needs to make sure residents there are properly supported.

“Most of them are low-income families, they may need much of social service to support their lives," Lai told RTHK.

"The government needs to [consider] whether they will deploy more social service, or even set up some additional social service agencies or centres over there."

Lai added that authorities need to explain to existing Kai Tak residents about the need for light public housing in the area.

"They may need to say we'll provide adequate entertainment or leisure activities or places like the public parks...That may help the local residents to know more about the reason and also the benefits of [having] light public housing households," he said.

Sze Lai-shan, deputy director of the Society of Community Organisation, also said developing temporary homes on the Kai Tak plot is a good idea because the site – intended for commercial use – is expected to remain idle for some time.

“The land has no use for a few years, so can use it temporarily as a light public housing [site] to relieve the pain or the problem of subdivided housing. I think there’s no contradiction,” Sze said.

“People always have a negative impression about those subdivided flat people. But we see there are already a lot of social housing in urban areas, and there had not been any problems.”

The Kai Tak site is one of eight plots earmarked to build some 30,000 light public flats, which will be made available over the next few years.