‘Sin Fong’ owners protest again calling for gov’t intervention

More than a hundred residents at the troubled “Sin Fong Garden”  residential building congregated once again on the pavement outside the block on Saturday night, holding lit candles and banners and demanding that the government intervene in the structurally vulnerable high-rise building’s reconstruction work.
At around 8 p.m., some of those who evacuated “Sin Fong” back in October 2012, at risk of an imminent collapse, returned to the entrance of the residential structure, where they previously staged a overnight sit-in to protest the termination of a government-­sponsored investigative report last March.
The “Sin Fong” owners urge the authorities to proactively initiate the cracked building’s rebuilding project. Among them was the chairman of a management committee for the property, Vong Kuok Fai, who told media during last Thursday’s meeting with the government’s task force that the city’s Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Raimundo do Rosário, has pledged to formally announce his decision within a month; yet no explanation was forthcoming.
According to Vong’s personal understanding, the secretary’s decision was still between a “forceful renovation” or total reconstruction.
A white banner hanging across the building’s façade, located near its parking lot entrance, reads: “Kindly request the government to actively engage in launching the reconstruction work, return ‘Sin Fong’ residents a livable home” in Chinese characters. The committee chairman believes only the building’s reconstruction could fulfill the owners’ hopes, without remedial technologies to recover the entire block from continual structural damage.
Aside from the authorities’ active intervention, Vong also noted that the intricate legal and technical issues involved in the case could not be feasibly resolved by the victims and instead required assistance from the government for them to better cope with the predicament. According to the committee head, there is only one street store owner that disagrees with the rebuilding proposal. He hopes to see a favorable decision to be made soon, taking into account the fact that more than 700 residents’ livelihoods are at stake.
Policymaker Ho Ion Sang was also present at the night’s assembly, supporting the “Sin Fong” apartment owners. The crowd dispersed at around 9.30 p.m. without clashing with the authorities, unlike previous protests.
Later at around midnight, the spokesman office for the government issued a statement in response to the protest. It said that authorities are stil highly concerned with the “Sin Fong Garden” incident and ongoing follow-up work. “The government fully understands the rational and lawful appeals made by the apartment owners at the assembly tonight, and will continue to maintain close communication with apartment owners through cross-department follow-up teams in order to seek a scheme to properly address the incident together,” the statement reads. Staff reporter