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Christy Leung

Shirley Zhao

Officials will start cracking down on illegal activities in industrial buildings next month and take back properties if breaches are not rectified within two weeks.
Six industrial blocks, in which unauthorised learning centres and entertainment premises were found, were named and would be targeted in the first phrase of the action starting on August 29.
Nervous Hong Kong landlords move on fire safety following killer fire
The crackdown was announced by development minister Paul Chan Mo-po on Friday in the wake of two fires in industrial buildings over the past month.
Chan said the Lands Department would initially target industrial units which were used in an inappropriate way and which attracted people to a building which also had premises licensed for the manufacture or storage of dangerous goods.
“Some industrial units were used as large-scale learning centres, religious gathering places and recreation areas, which attracted people to the block,” Chan said.
“The [fire] risk will be greater when people pass through and dangerous goods are stored in an industrial building. They are not supposed to co-exist,” he said.
The fire authority explained that dangerous goods stored in licensed units included flammable items and compressed gas cylinders.
“I have to stress that these licensed units fulfil our fire requirements. But members of the public, especially children and the elderly, are exposed to a high risk by using stairs or lifts in these buildings,” acting Fire Services Department assistant director Terrance Tsang Wing-hung said.
Teenage siblings ‘living in cubicles’ rescued from second Hong Kong industrial building fire in three weeks
The six targeted buildings are Chung Hing Industrial Mansions in San Po Kong, Yuen Fat Industrial Building in Kowloon Bay, block one of Tai Ping Industrial Centre in Tai Po, Tak Lee Industrial Centre in Tuen Mun, Wah Fung Industrial Centre in Kwai Chung and Shield Industrial Centre in Tsuen Wan.
At Yuen Fat Industrial Building, Donald Mak Kwong-kuen, owner of martial arts training centre International Wing Chun Organisation, said he was forced to move into the building from Mong Kok due to high rents, which had almost quadrupled since 1998. He said he had been forced to change venues five times over the years.
“The government is trying to stifle local businesses’ living space,” Mak said. “On the one hand it wants to revitalise industrial buildings, but after we have revitalised them, it wants to kick us out.”

Mak said the government should identify viable industrial buildings for people like him and make it easier for small businesses to rent units in industrial buildings.
He added that he was not worried about having to move: “I can always take down the sign on the front door and change the place into my own office and training place.”
A boxing centre and a commercial event venue also operate in the building.
A large war games venue and a couple of language tutorial centres operate in Chung Hing Industrial Mansions. But staff at the venues refused to speak to the Post.
Killer Ngau Tau Kok fire tamed after 80 hours
The District Lands Office will first issue a warning letter to the owner in question. It will then take back the unit if the owner fails to rectify the situation within 14 days. The authority stressed it was giving enough time for action to be taken.
The new measures came after three units in a five-decade-old industrial block in Cheung Sha Wan caught fire last Thursday, injuring two siblings and a fireman. The units were found to have been illegally divided for residential use.
The third-alarm blaze followed an inferno that killed two firemen at a mini-storage facility in Ngau Tau Kok last month.
Illegally changing the use of a building or carrying out unauthorised building work could violate the Buildings Ordinance.
Failure to comply with a removal order can lead to a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a fine of HK$200,000.
At the end of May, the department had inspected 99 targeted industrial buildings and brought 29 prosecution cases, with offenders being fined.


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Officials will target Yuen Fat Industrial Building in Kowloon Bay next month. Photo: Felix Wong

Donald Mak Kwong Kuen, Chairman of Internal Wing Chun Organisation at Yuen Fat Industrial Building located in Kowloon Bay. 15JUL16 SCMP/ Felix Wong

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Hong Kong

Law and Crime

The government names six target buildings and threatens to take back units if breaches are not rectified within two weeks
