The government on Thursday said it was working on arrangements for Wang Fuk Court residents who want to make a second visit to their homes to salvage their belongings.

This was according to Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk.

On Monday, the initial phase of returnees saw residents start to retrieve their belongings from Wang Sun House while those who lived in Wang Cheong, Wang Yan and Wang Tao houses are part of the second phase of returnees.

Those from Wang Cheong and Wang Yan houses were allowed to go home to begin the retrieval process on Thursday.

Cheuk said residents who have not already expressed a need to go home for a second time, after their initial visit, can still raise their wishes to do so.

“Six hundred residents already expressed their wish to us that they want to go home again. We will arrange that,” he said.

“If residents who are returning home today did not express such a wish before, they can tell their social workers, and we will actively arrange that.”

He added the government would remain flexible in arranging for residents, who are not available at their designated timeslots, to head home at another session.

Cheuk noted that November’s inferno had severely damaged Wang Cheong and Wang Tai blocks, which led to more deaths.

He noted that residents of the two blocks would need more emotional and psychological support in particular.

Therefore, he said, all residents going in and out of the two buildings would be accompanied by a police officer.

As for units with fatalities, respective households will each have a clinical psychologist and social worker from the Social Welfare Department to accompany them the whole time, Cheuk added.

He also said the government was delighted to see that residents were able retrieve items that are valuable to them over the past few days.

Residents from Wang Tai House, Wang Kin House and Wang Shing House will be the last batch to return to their homes between April 29 and May 4.




Edited by Tony Sabine