Today was the fourth day of phased arrangements for residents of seven blocks of Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po to return to their units. The second round of the phased arrangements also commenced today.
The Government said 424 people from 115 households in Wang Cheong House and Wang Yan House turned up, and the access arrangements were carried out in an orderly manner.
Five low-zone floors of Wang Cheong House and ten low-zone floors of Wang Yan House were opened today.
Concluding the arrangements, the Government said a total of 429 people from 117 households registered to return to their units today through the “one social worker per household” service, while 424 people from 115 households actually turned up.
The average time residents spent entering and leaving the building today was two hours and 13 minutes, with the shortest time being 10 minutes and the longest three hours and 42 minutes.
About 40% of the residents stayed in the building for less than two hours, while around 10% of the residents stayed for less than one hour.
A total of 153 people from 61 households went up and down the building more than once. Among them, 76 people from 24 households made one additional trip, 34 people from 15 households made two additional trips, 24 people from 11 households made three additional trips, 7 people from 5 households made four additional trips, while 12 people from 6 households made five additional trips or above.
Deputy Chief Secretary Cheuk Wing-hing today spoke to two households returning to their units at Wang Cheong House.
Both households said their units were not seriously damaged and that many items could be retrieved, and they hoped to return to their units one more time to collect more belongings.
Mr Cheuk expressed understanding of their wishes and said the Government is actively following up on the arrangements for them to return to their units again.
The integrated enquiry counter today received eight cases requesting police assistance and four cases involving residents seeking help due to physical discomfort, as well as one case seeking psychological counselling services.
The eight cases requesting police assistance involved suspected loss of property, including watches, jewellery, cash and gold items. Officers were immediately deployed to assist in searches, and in six of them, Police successfully assisted in recovering the lost property. In one case, the flat was seriously damaged, and after investigation, the residents believed that the property may have been burned. For the remaining one case, there were no signs of ransacking in the unit, and the residents could not provide details on the property concerned.
Adjustments were made on-site today in response to an increase in occasional showers. Additional marquees were set up outside the waiting area for residents at Tai Po Baptist Public School, creating a covered pedestrian walkway to provide shelter from the rain and facilitate residents in transporting their belongings to the vehicles.
The Government outlined that it deploys over 1,000 personnel from various departments each day, including Police, the Civil Aid Service, the Fire Services Department, the Auxiliary Medical Service, the Home Affairs Department, the Social Welfare Department, the Housing Department, and the Housing Bureau, and staff mobilised from other departments as well as District Services & Community Care Teams members to fully support residents returning to their units.
