Under the epidemic, some transitional houses have been converted into isolation facilities, which has made matters worse for the grassroots citizens who have been waiting for a long time to go upstairs. The Transport and Housing Bureau earlier announced the requisition of “Tong Xin Village”, which was originally used as a transitional housing estate in Yuen Long Tung Tau, as a community isolation facility. The project was originally ready to be occupied in June this year at the earliest, but residents who were candidates for occupancy were informed following the interview. The date of occupancy needs to be extended by up to half a year, and the monthly rented hotel where he lives was forced to relocate because it was converted into an isolation facility. Subdivided flats are “reverse actions”.
Mr. Chow, who has been waiting for public housing for 11 years, originally lived in a cramped and unsanitary sub-unit. When he first heard regarding the launch of “Tongxin Village”, he thought it would be a turning point. Community isolation facilities need to be delayed for 3 months to half a year before they can join. Earlier, he took the opportunity to move out of the subdivided room due to a reduction in the monthly rent of the hotel, but following moving into the hotel, the hotel was requisitioned as an isolation facility and needed to be moved out.
Mr. Zou switched to other hotels for monthly rent, but because too many hotels have been converted into community isolation facilities, the price of the hotel he is currently renting starts from flying on the ground, and the rent has increased from regarding HK$7,700 per month to regarding HK$44,000, so he cannot pay the rent. Need to move once more. He admitted frankly that he was worried that he might move into subdivided housing with poor environment once more, and he severely criticized the government’s epidemic prevention measures for ignoring the living plight of some grassroots citizens.
The government has pointed out that if the transitional housing is requisitioned as an isolation facility, the families who have been arranged to live in it will receive an ex-gratia allowance. However, Mr. Zou was not compensated because he did not join. Tongxin Village might have provided 1,800 units. He believed that more than 1,000 grass-roots units had the same fate. The Tongxin Village was built quickly for emergency purposes, but as the epidemic worsened and the demand for quarantine increased, “the government did the opposite.”
The Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Association replied that Tongxin Village has received regarding 1,750 applications and is currently selecting qualified candidates for interviews in stages. As the project is in the interview stage, there is currently no number of people affected by the delayed occupation. Tongxin Village has not yet allocated a flat and signed a tenancy agreement for the applicant. Therefore, the ex-gratia allowance granted by the government to families in the transitional housing project is not applicable. As for the entry date of the project, it will depend on the development of the epidemic and the assessment of the authorities.