A looming Wang Fuk Court owners' meeting should not be a factor for those deciding whether or not to accept a blanket government offer for their property rights, Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak said on Saturday.

She was speaking after a radio show in response to a question as to when such a meeting, called for by some of those displaced by the inferno, can be held.

Mak said Hop On - the management company appointed to oversee affairs at the Tai Po residential estate following November's deadly inferno - has sought to delay the meeting for more time to work on arrangements but stressed that homeowners’ decisions have nothing to do with the meeting.

"The establishment of an owners’ corporation is for the management of public spaces in and administrative work involving the entire estate," she said.

"On homeowners’ handling of certain units, these are private premises, and it's their concern. It is not handled by holding an owners’ meeting.

"If homeowners are considering whether or not to sell their private flats, their own flats, that would be based on their own considerations. So it should not be linked with the holding of an owners’ meeting."

Mak was also speaking after the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals announced that it would allocate HK$10 million to help eligible Wang Fuk owners with legal costs if they accept the buyout offer.

More than 1,000 homeowners, she added, have said that they would like to apply for the assistance.




Edited by Azam Khan