Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Chief Executive Donald Tsang ednesday visited Sham Shui Po District to see revitalization work taking place in one of the city's earliest developed districts.
Accompanied by Sham Shui Po District Officer May Chan, Tsang visited Mei Ho House in Shek Kip Mei Estate, the first resettlement estate in the territory.
With the redevelopment of the estate, Mei Ho House, which was declared a Grade I historical building in 2005, is the last "H" shaped resettlement block still standing in Hong Kong.
To engage the public in heritage conservation, an ideas competition is being held to invite professional bodies and the general public to contribute creative ideas and concepts for revitalizing the life of Mei Ho House and its vicinity.
Noting that suitable methods of conservation and creativity could rejuvenate the conserved heritage, Tsang said the competition would encourage creative ideas in heritage conservation.
"It can also help raise public awareness of the subject," he said.
Tsang visited a sample flat of Mei Ho House to better understand the life of residents in olden days. He was told that the Housing Department had continuously maintained structural safety and environmental hygiene of the building to prepare for its future use.
The Chief Executive also visited So Uk Estate, a 40-year-old estate in the district which is about to be cleared. The first phase of the clearance will begin by the end of next year while the second will start in August 2011.
Tsang visited two elderly brothers living in the estate and was told that an on-site re-housing team and a community service team of social workers had been set up to help address tenants' concerns about the clearance process.
So Uk Estate is a "green" estate with some 740 trees, half of them at least 40 years old, and Tsang was pleased to learn that most would be preserved.
"The government will strive to protect trees in Hong Kong, particularly the valuable and rare old trees," Tsang said.
Source: Xinhua
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