By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-10-03 06:12:56 | Updated at 2024-10-03 09:17:21
3 hours ago
Hong Kong’s housing chief has urged elderly public housing residents to declare their living situations accurately, in a fresh round of mandatory reporting to tackle misuse of government resources.
Director of Housing Rosanna Law Shuk-pui told a radio programme on Thursday that the current round of reporting, which began this month, was aimed at some 120,000 elderly households in which all members were 60 years or older.
They had two months – until November 30 – to submit their papers, she said, adding a majority had already been given their forms via mail.
“[Elderly residents] should open their postboxes to check. If there’s a form there, that means you need to report for this round. If not, don’t worry, it just means it’s not yet your turn,” she said.
Law said the form, to be submitted to Housing Authority offices, was “simple”. Elderly residents must declare if they are still living “continuously” in public housing, without needing to specify if they owned the residence.
The housing chief explained that the term “continuous” was usually defined as three consecutive months, including staying overnight. But residents who were away for short periods would not be automatically disqualified from staying on in their homes if they had legitimate reasons.
