Force gets 2,723 HOS flats as quarters
Under this reprovisioning project, the Government will purchase from the Housing Authority a total of 4,304 HOS flats in Yau Mei Court and Ko Cheung Court in Yau Tong and Kwai Chung Phase 7 and Kwai Yung Court in Kwai Chung to reprovision 15 "aged" Disciplined Services departmental quarters. A total of eight Police quarter sites are included in the project, namely Western PMQ, Tanner Road PMQ and Wanchai PMQ on Hong Kong Island, Homantin PMQ in Kowloon; Au Tau PMQ and Tai Lam Chung PMQ in New Territories North as well as Shatin PMQ and Kwai Chung PMQ in New Territories South.
The 2,723 HOS flats allocated to the Force will be used to reprovision over 1,500 police families residing on eight affected quarter sites, with the remaining units to be opened to applications by eligible officers in new HOS allocation exercises scheduled to be held at the end of 2004 and in early 2005. The HOS flats are undergoing internal decoration and installation of facilities to meet the standard quarters specifications and would be ready for occupation in phases commencing in mid 2005.
Officers who are affected by the exercise would be offered a unit at one of the HOS quarter sites. If they do not wish to move to these HOS units, they will be given 48 directional points to assist them in selecting quarters in an open pool. The decantation period has also been extended to June 2006 to allow sufficient time for affected families to make necessary arrangements.
The new HOS quarters are situated in easily accessible locations served by buses and mini-buses round the clock. In particular, Yau Mei Court and Ko Cheung Court are very close to the Yau Tong MTR Station, with all daily necessities available in the adjacent housing estate. It is believed that they will be popular with officers.
The Force is now liaising with the concerned departments to arrange visits to show flats, and an announcement would be made as soon as arrangements are confirmed. Police Quartering Division is updating their website to include details of the project, and officers may visit the web page for updates and announcements.
Steering Committee formed
A Steering Committee, chaired by CSP CS&D, has been formed to formulate Force policy to ensure the smooth implementation of the decantation project and to attend to affected officers who have genuine difficulties to move out of their "aged" quarters. In order to handle affected residents' requests more effectively, a Consultative Working Group has also been set up to monitor daily decanting activities.
Police Quartering Division has also set up a "quarters decantation hotline" at 2804-1429 to receive enquiries during office hours.
The podium of Yau Mei Court
Ko Cheung Court is complete with recreational facilities
Kwai Yung Court
Kwai Chung Phase 7