EJ Insight » Hong KongToday, 15:57
Two district councilors who won their seats in the November elections have lodged complaints with the Office of The Ombudsman about problems in getting office facilities.
On Tuesday, Chui Chi-kin from Yue Wan constituency in Eastern District and Yip Wing of Sha Tin’s Chung On district went to the Ombudsman together to complain about the office problem.
The Housing Authority is failing to ensure that defeated district council members vacate their offices and hand them over to the newly-elected councilors, Chui and Yip complained, according to Ming Pao Daily.
Chui defeated long-time councilor Christopher Chung Shu-kun from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) in district council elections on Nov. 22, while Yip defeated Elizabeth Quat Pui-fan of DAB in his district.
However, Chui, an “umbrella soldier”, has not yet been able to take over the local office that had been occupied by Chung.
The reason is Chung is still a member of the Legislative Council and he has applied to the Housing Authority to extend his use of the office as a Legislative Councilor office.
As the problem is still not resolved, Chui has been forced to set up an “office” outdoors.
Similar situation was met by Yip as Quat did the same thing as Chung.
According to a spokesman for the Housing Authority, when district councilors lose their seats, they could ask for permission to keep their offices if they were still serving as lawmakers.
Chui said in a Facebook post that there are many grey areas in regulations concerning councilors’ offices.
What the Housing Authority should do is offer offices to councilors so they can serve residents in the district, he said.
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