Tenants risk lives in old firetrap flats - The Standard

Tenants risk lives in old firetrap flats - The Standard:

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Tenants risk lives in old firetrap flats Candy Chan Monday, March 19, 2012 Many residents of cubicle flats are living in firetraps - six out of 10 such units have blocked fire escapes, a survey has found.The situation is so bad the fire escape area in one old building was also converted into a subdivided flat. "Some staircases were blocked, while the back-door fire escape area was converted into another subdivided flat and leased out to tenants," lawmaker Peter Cheung Kwok-che said in commenting on the findings. Cheung said those landlords have violated fire safety regulations and put lives at risk. "Tenants are so worried about their dangerous living conditions, but are frustrated because they cannot afford to move." ADVERTISEMENT Some tenants have resorted to putting escape ropes near windows in case of fire, he said. The survey of 200 subdivided flats - sponsored by three groups, including the Concerning CSSA Review Alliance - was done in Sham Shui Po, Prince Edward, To Kwa Wan and Kwai Chung. Of the respondents, 80percent were families with three to four members living in a unit no bigger than 100 square feet - usually paying HK$3,000 a month. Most - 90percent - are on the waiting list for public housing, with an average waiting time of six to seven years - double the government's promised waiting time of three years. Lawmaker Leung Yiu-chung complained that the government is gradually demolishing subdivided flats but without offering tenants somewhere to live. "What the government is doing is reducing the number of subdivided flats, but failing to provide sufficient alternative housing for those in need," Leung said. For example, a unit in an industrial building at 67 Bedford Road, Tai Kok Tsui, was divided into 12 cubicle flats, but has been ordered to shut. Mrs Chan, 57, who lives with her husband and son in a 170-sq- ft cubicle, said she feels helpless while they wait for public housing. "I have nowhere else to go," she said. "I feel so scared as my neighbors have moved out one by one and I am left behind."