1 Housing Department confirms Wah Fu Estate structurally safe
Hong Kong Government, 20 June 2008

All the 18 housing blocks in Wah Fu Estate in Southern District will be retained after a comprehensive structural investigation conducted by the Housing Department confirmed that they are structurally safe.

However, since the buildings have deteriorated to varying degrees due to ageing and environmental degradation, some structural repairs and improvement works will be carried out at various locations of the buildings in order to sustain them for the next 15 years.

"It is more economically sustainable to retain the buildings by carrying out repair works than demolishing them for redevelopment," a spokesman for the Housing Department said today (June 20).

Estate improvement works will also be carried out in parallel to enhance the living environment for tenants of the estate, the spokesman said.

The works would include the construction of lifts and escalators to link up locations with large level differences to facilitate access.

"To minimise nuisance arising from the repair and improvement works, less-disturbing repair methods will be used," the spokesman said.

Examples of these methods are concrete removal using cutting tools with noise damping; dust screens to prevent dust from entering tenants' flats; rapidly demountable noise absorbing panels as noise screens; and temporary walking platforms to maintain access in corridors.

"In addition, the works will be carried out in sequence to minimise disturbance to tenants," the spokesman said, adding that tenants would be fully consulted in due course. 

Completed between 1967 and 1978, Wah Fu Estate comprises 9,147 flats in 18 blocks of 10 to 27 storeys.