Hong Kong’s innovation and technology (I&T), intellectual property and investment promotion departments will receive budget increases of at least 10 per cent in the coming financial year, even as the government moves to curb recurrent spending, while the environmental branch and public broadcaster face sharp cuts of 70 and 28 per cent, respectively. The Home…
Senior civil servants are among scores of witnesses to be cross-examined by an independent committee set up to probe the cause of Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades in a string of open hearings expected to take around two months, the South China Morning Post has learned. The committee tasked to investigate the fire, which…
Some tenants of a government-subsidised youth hostel in Hong Kong fear having to return to shoebox homes and are scrambling to find alternatives after a private operator announced its shutdown last week. A resident of the BeLIVING Youth Hub in Causeway Bay told the Post on Friday that the hostel’s operator, the Hong Kong United…
Hongkongers displaced by the deadly Tai Po fire feel as if they are “being tossed around like a ball” after being told to leave their temporary accommodation by the end of the month, and are urging authorities to let them stay until long-term housing is found. Affected residents were recently told by social workers that…
Residents left homeless by Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades have been told to vacate their emergency accommodation at youth hostels by the end of this month so the facilities can resume their normal operations. The Home and Youth Affairs Bureau said on Sunday that affected residents could move to transitional housing or use the…
Hong Kong authorities have distributed about 30 per cent of a HK$4.1 billion (US$528 million) fund set up for residents affected by last month’s deadly fire, along with more than 45,000 donated items. A spokeswoman for the Home and Youth Bureau said: “The total financial commitment of the various support measures in place so far…
Hong Kong’s development chief has vowed to tighten building safety laws to punish those exploiting loopholes, warning that authorities will show no leniency towards the construction sector that has come under public scrutiny after the deadly Tai Po fire. Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho also said on Saturday that the government would take over…
Hong Kong will cancel its New Year’s Eve fireworks display at Victoria Harbour following the deadly inferno in Tai Po last month. The Hong Kong Tourism Board on Wednesday said that its New Year countdown would instead be held at the Chater Road pedestrian zone in Central. “Through this event, the [board] hopes to convey…
An unused Covid-19 isolation facility at a prime sea-view site in the heart of Hong Kong will be transformed into a youth hostel and cultural hub, offering 2,900 units at affordable rates and expected to debut in September. The project, renamed “Runway 1331” and located at the former Kai Tak airport, is expected to provide…
An unused Covid-19 isolation facility at a prime sea-view site in the heart of Hong Kong will be transformed into a youth hostel and cultural hub, offering 2,900 units at affordable rates and expected to debut in September. The project, renamed “Runway 1331” and located at the former Kai Tak airport, is expected to provide…