IAS to end subsidies to Sin Fong owners

The Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) has announced that its subsidies available to the evacuated residents of Sin Fong Garden will come to a halt this August.
Department head of Family and Community Service of IAS Au Chi Keung, revealed to local reporters that they are suing the responsible party to recover over MOP240 million.
The bureau has paid to lodge around 50 families that had to leave the troubled structure of Sin Fong Garden located in Patane.
“We will stop rent allowances in August but there must also be temporary home for residents as well,” Au added.
Although he declined to reveal which party was responsible, he believes the construction company should also take some responsibility.
“It’s a difficult thing to answer but I believe it is the responsibility of the builder because contracts were involved,” he said
It was nearly four years ago when authorities mandated Sin Fong residents to evacuate the building as they felt the building was at risk of collapsing.
A MDT report published in May 2015 stated that the government intended to claim the money it spent on rents back, but was unsure from whom it should be claimed as no one had been held accountable for the building’s problems with cracks in the walls.
In September 2015, the Public Prosecutions Office accused seven residents of the residential property of aggravated disobedience over their 2014 protest and clash with authorities. Residents then condemned the government for failing to keep its promise of not prosecuting them over the demonstrations.