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A number of Housing Department services will no longer be offered on Saturdays once the department adopts a five-day week next month.
From July 1, most of the department's back-end offices, including the Housing Authority Headquarters Building in Ho Man Tin will no longer open for business on Saturdays and Sundays.
Offices dealing with applications for, and allocation of, public rental housing; the Housing Information Centre; and Housing Department offices in public rental housing estates dealing with non-emergency management and maintenance services will be closed on Saturdays and Sundays.
Statutory services in handling appeals submitted under the Housing Ordinance and the Estate Agents Ordinance will also be unavailable on those two days.
Office hours from Monday to Friday, however, will be extended, from 8.45am to 6pm. A few offices will adopt slightly different opening hours to meet their requirements.
A drop-in box for documents will be available at the atrium of the Housing Authority Headquarters Building from 8.45am to 6pm on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. Such documents may include appeals submitted under the Housing Ordinance and the Estate Agents Ordinance.
Services provided by the department which will not move to five-day-week mode of operation at this stage include anti-illegal hawking services, warden services provided at housing for senior citizens, shroff counter services provided at the Property Management Units and the District Tenancy Management Offices, data centre operation, materials testing laboratory (concrete testing), site supervisory activities, and services provided for the media.
Leaflets listing the new opening hours may be obtained from the estate management offices of public rental housing estates, the Housing Authority Customer Service Centre in Wang Tau Hom and the Housing Information Centre in Sham Shui Po. Rolling text on details of the department's opening hours, as well as those of other Government departments, will also be broadcast on the Housing Channel.
For more information, members of the public can visit the Housing Authority website at http://www.housingauthority.gov.hk or the central website for the five-day week initiative at http://www.info.gov.hk/info/5day/. They can also call the 24-hour 1823 Citizen's Easy Link.
Ends/Friday, June 16, 2006
Issued at HKT 20:14
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