More than half of homeowners of the fire-hit Wang Fuk Court have signed contracts selling their flats to the government under a buyback plan, the city’s leader John Lee has said.
Chief Executive Lee said on Monday that 53 per cent of Wang Fuk Court homeowners had signed the sale and purchase agreement, adding that the entire process has been “smooth.”
He said 90.8 per cent of homeowners had signed a letter of acceptance, the first step of the process that will see them selling their property to the government in exchange for cash or a flat swap.
A massive blaze tore through the Tai Po housing estate in November last year, killing 168 people and displacing thousands in one of Hong Kong’s worst fires in history. Wang Fuk Court, a government-subsidised Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) housing estate, had a total of 1,984 flats.
Lee’s remarks on Tuesday mean that roughly 200 homeowners have yet to accept the government’s buyback offer, which will expire at the end of August.
The chief executive urged the remaining residents to make a timely decision, saying that the offer was aimed at restoring normalcy for them as soon as possible.
The acquisition scheme was first announced in February, with the buyback price set at HK$8,000 or HK$10,500 per square foot, depending on whether the homeowner has paid land premiums.
Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong has said that authorities may consider legislation to acquire property titles of those who refuse to sell their flats.
Some Wang Fuk Court residents have said they felt they had no choice but to accept the government’s buyback offer after authorities said they would not rebuild the fire-hit estate on the original site.
Plagiarism incidents
Separately, Chief Executive Lee said on Tuesday that he “respected” the decision by Chief Justice Andrew Cheung to request High Court Judge Wilson Chan to retire early following a string of plagiarism instances.
Chan was found to have plagiarised in his judgements at least five times over the past three years, according to local media outlet The Witness. Over his 10-year tenure as a Court of First Instance Judge, there were 11 cases presided by Chan that had seen appeals or complaints due to suspected “judicial copying,” The Witness reported.
Among the 11, a retrial was ordered for four of them, according to the outlet.
Chief Justice Cheung has requested Chan to retire early, the Judiciary said on Monday. The retirement will come into effect this Friday.
Lee said on Tuesday that the public held judges in high regard for their professionalism, adding that he respected Cheung’s “appropriate measures” to safeguard confidence in the judicial system.
The chief executive also thanked University of Hong Kong President and Vice-Chancellor Zhang Xiang, who announced he will step down from the leadership role in 2028, for his contributions.
