LIGHTING is to be improved at Tuen Mun housing estates terrorised by a serial rapist.
The Housing Department will this week start to replace lower wattage lights with 14,000 new fluorescent tubes and will provide lighting in dark areas.
The department's chief building services engineer, Mr Tong Wing-sing, said that while he did not know whether the improvements would reduce crime, it was hoped it would give residents peace of mind.
The move comes a few days after the Government rejected a plea from public housing residents for better security.
Plans to improve lighting at Housing Department estates were first drawn up in 1991, but the four Tuen Mun estates of Tai Hing, On Ting, Sam Shing and Yau Oi were given priority because of the rapist.
The rapist is thought to have struck three times in Yau Oi Estate and twice in Tai Hing. Most Tuen Mun district board members welcomed the department's move but said improving lighting alone would not help much.
Member Mr Chan Mo-pow of On Ting Estate constituency said: ''It is a good start. But good security cannot be achieved without using various measures jointly.