Casino tycoon Stanley Ho Hung-sun and his third wife have been told to get their house in order.
No 3 wife Chan Un-chan (also known as Chan Yuen-chun), the registered owner of a crumbling uninhabited mansion at No 4 Shek O Headland Road, Shek O, which is worth millions, has been instructed by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department to clean a swimming pool on the property which neighbours claim has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
One villager claimed the larvae-ridden pool was a potential health hazard and the onset of spring would see mosquitoes swarm into the village.
Department senior health inspector Tse Ki-cheong confirmed the house's owner had been contacted and instructions had been received that work would be done shortly.
'We have told the owner to take the water away as soon as possible,' Mr Tse said. 'They said they would and they were sorry about the problem.'
A spokeswoman for Ms Chan said the department had called last week and arrangements for the work had been made. 'We have organised some contractors to do the job first thing this week,' she said.
Neighbours in Shek O, a former fishing village in the southeastern corner of Hong Kong Island, have been bemused by the decline of what was once the proudest house on the street. The house, on a 13,000 sq ft block, had unobstructed views of the water from every room, said former tenants of the mansion, which was last rented out in 2006.