Two security guards stand in front of the building of Donald Tsang's flat on McDonnell Road in Mid-levels on Thursday. Edmond Tang / China Daily

Media charge Tsang's open balcony now enclosed by glass wall

Chief Executive Donald Tsang denied a media challenge on Tuesday that unauthorized building works have been erected on the balcony of his flat.

The chief executive says he has hired an authorized expert to examine if any illegal structure exists in his flat.

His wife Tsang Pau Siu-Mei and an engineer went to the flat on Tuesday morning.

She will decide on follow-up actions according to the engineer's advice.

A Chinese newspaper pointed an accusing finger at Tsang, charging that the original open balcony of his flat is now enclosed by a glass wall, which was constructed without the building authority's prior approval.

Tsang, responding to the report on Tuesday, said the flat was owned by his father from 1978 to 1997.

Tsang bought it in 1998 in his company's name.

No alteration or additional works have been undertaken during the two periods, Tsang recalled.

He noted that the Building Department inspected the flat five years ago.

Following the department's requests, he has already removed a small tent above the exhaust fans and flower racks on external walls.

No additional removal orders have been received since then, he said.

"So naturally, I think that there are no other problems," he said.

Since the matter of the balcony glass has raised public concern, Tsang said, he had already invited experts to inspect the flat as soon as possible.

"If any work needing to be removed is found, I will follow up immediately," he promised.

The matter drew harsh criticism from legislators.

However, it was just from some legislators that the problem of unauthorized building works starts to catch media's attention.

Legislator Cheung Hok-ming was first reported to have three unauthorized building works in his flat in the middle of May.

Later, a number of legislators, including Chan Kam-lam, Wong Yung-kan, Leung Yiu-chung and Wong Kwok-hing, were found in a row to have the same problem in their houses.

Architectural experts commented that timing is a critical element in this case.

Bernard Lim Wan-fung, a professor at the School of Architecture at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said that the current building construction requirements are higher than those of the 19070s.

"The common practice at that time should be taken into consideration," Lim said.

Structural Engineer So Yiu-kwan explained that the regulations concerning alteration and additional building works were fairly loose in the 1950s.

In addition to Tsang, Executive Councillor Leong Che-hung and Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Stephen Lam Sui-lung have also come under scrutiny over alleged unauthorized building works in their homes.

Leong said he had already asked experts to inspect his flat at the earliest possible opportunity.

A glass house on his rooftop had been questioned.

He explained his flat was purchased more than two decades ago.

Lam, responding through a spokesperson of the bureau, denied any unauthorized building works on his rooftop.

There are no additional houses or enclosed spaces but only canvas tents and wooden bars for decoration, the spokesperson said.

Previously, two top officials, Secretary for Education Michael Suen and Under Secretary for the Environment Kitty Poon-kit, had admitted to having unauthorized building works at their flats. Both apologized and promised removal.

The Building Department took a tougher stand toward removing unauthorized building works in April.

It adopted a wider scope for removal action after removing around 380,000 such works in the past ten years.

China Daily

(HK Edition 06/01/2011 page1)