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Direct investigation into arrangements on display of publicity materials in public housing estates
In Hong Kong, about one-third of the population is residing in public housing estates. The Housing Department (“HD”), being responsible for management of public housing estates, is duty bound to formulate proper measures for ensuring that this huge sector of residents can obtain information on related community services, while eligible persons/organisations can disseminate useful information to public housing residents in a fair and efficient way. However, this direct investigation has revealed loopholes in the Department’s existing arrangements for processing PMs and its vetting and approving mechanism, resulting in unfairness in certain situations. To address the inadequacies in three areas, namely the vetting and approval of applications for display of PMs; the criteria for vetting and approving the contents of PMs; and the monitoring mechanism, the Office has made nine recommendations for improvement.
Ms Lau said, “The HD should not underrate the importance of fair treatment of matters relating to display of PMs in public housing estates. It is essential for the Department to adopt improvement measures to remedy the inadequacies. Any improper handling by the HD could easily lead to conflicts among different organisations, or even among the residents. This would not only generate complaints and grievances, but also give the public an impression that the HD is acting unfairly and operating in a clandestine manner. The Office of The Ombudsman will continue to monitor the progress of the HD in implementing the recommendations made in the investigation report until they are fully implemented.”
Some of the results have been shared in the full press release.
Source: Office of the Ombudsman, Hong Kong
