2015-11-19 HKT 09:33
An audit report has found that about a third of vacant school premises have not been returned to the government. Photo: RTHK
Vacant school sites that the government has failed to utilise could provide about 20,000 small flats, according to housing concern group, Land Watch.
The group's chairman, former legislator Lee Wing-tat, was speaking to RTHK about the Director of Audit's report released on Wednesday which castigated the Lands Department and Education Bureau for failing to take back about 170 disused school sites.
He said the area was larger than Victoria Park, and estimated it could supply about 20,000 small flats for a moderate density development.
"It’s equivalent to one year’s production of private flats in Hong Kong", he told Hong Kong Today.
The Director of Audit found that about a third of vacant school premises have not been returned to the government, and that on average, the schools in question had not been operating for 11 years.
The school on one 4,000-square-metre site in Tai Po ceased operations in 1996. But the auditor said the Lands Department has still not taken any action to get it back. It had talked with the concerned party over the phone, but apparently did not press the case because it was claimed that the school building was iconic and served as a village memorial.
The auditor said the Lands Department needs to review and follow up on the cases. Both the Education Bureau and the department said they agreed with the auditor’s recommendations.
http://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1224515-20151119.htm
