Housing Bureau head says ‘everyone should have a roof over their head’

The new Housing Bureau (IH) director Ieong Kam Wa took office yesterday. He stated that the bureau now needs to focus on the follow-up of the three rounds of public housing applications in 2013, while simultaneously continuing the review and amendment of the public housing regime.
Ieong, who is the former IH deputy director, said that the assignment of the government-promised 19,000 public housing units was completed in 2013. Regarding the delays in individual projects due to technical restrictions and safety reasons, the authorities have requested the Public Works department to catch up with the schedule, so as to minimize the delay on residents’ moving in.
“The goal of the MSAR government’s housing policy is ‘to enable everyone to have a roof over their head and to live and work in peace and contentment,’” he said at the inauguration ceremony.
“The IH holds fast to supporting low-income households to solve their housing needs as its priority of work and performs its duty of assigning and administrating public housing resources in accordance with the law,” he stressed.
According to Ieong, the bureau received over 42,000 applications for affordable housing units last year, and that over ten thousand of them needed to supplement required information.
He further stated that the affordable housing law is expected to be partially amended within this year, streamlining the procedure for residents to move into their assigned units.
“The IH has started internal analysis last year [on the review of the current public housing policy]. We also discussed the direction for law amendment with the Public Housing Affairs Committee,” he told the media, adding that the working arrangements will be revealed in March when the government’s Policy Address is released.
The director further indicated that the IH will continue promoting the amendment of the laws and regulations on the management of buildings, as well as supervising the practice of real estate agencies.
The inauguration ceremony was presided over by the Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo Arrais do Rosário. He acknowledged that several leadership positions under the Secretariat are still vacant, which will affect the ongoing public works. The vacancies will be filled gradually. BY