Chungking Mansions fire

Seventeen people were treated for injuries on Monday after a fire broke out in what police believe was a sub-divided flat in Chungking Mansions around 1:38 pm.

The injured were treated for smoke inhalation, including six who were admitted to hospital for treatment.

The fire was extinguished within 25 minutes of the initial report.

Firemen said the fire started in a 2-by-3-meter room, one of five rooms in a 1,500-square-foot flat on the eighth floor in the Block A of the building in Tsim Sha Tsui, well known for its very cheap accommodation and a mixture of South Asian and African residents.

The Building Department has stepped up inspection of sub-divided flats, after a fire in a tenement in To Kwa Wan killed four people in June.

Appeal opens in welfare case

The appellate court opened its hearing on a judicial review of two rejected welfare payout applications on Monday.

In one case, newly arrived immigrant Kong Yunming applied for Comprehensive Social Security Assistance six years ago but was rejected on grounds that her husband had died the second day after she arrived and she had lived in Hong Kong for less than seven years at the time.

In the second case, Hong Kong resident George Yao Man-fai applied for welfare after losing his job on the mainland.

He was refused assistance because he failed to meet the one-year-continuous-residency requirement, owing to his absence on the mainland.

The High Court had earlier ruled in favor of the two applicants.

The Social Welfare Department is appealing.

Chan Chi-wan case adjourned

The District Court on Monday adjourned the corruption trial of TVB general manager Stephen Chan Chi-wan until next Monday, when the prosecution and defense counsels will begin closing arguments, which are expected to take two days.

The court had originally planned to call TVB's Director of Foreign Affairs Tsang Sing-ming to the witness stand on Monday.

But the prosecution and defense reached an agreement that there was no need to hear Tsang's testimony.

Instead the defense lawyer read out a TVB statement dated in late 2010 reinstating Chan to his position as general manager, with the exception of duties and work pertaining to artiste management and casting arrangements.

Levy applies to non-woven bags

Secretary for the Environment Edward Yau said on Monday that the plastic bag levy applies to non-woven bags, often given out free as "environment protection bags" because they are reusable.

The number of non-woven bags disposed at local landfill shot up by 70 percent from 9 million two years ago to 17 million in 2010.

But they account for no more than 0.4 percent of the total amount of plastic bags in landfills.

China Daily

(HK Edition 07/19/2011 page1)