A fire broke out on a pedestrian footbridge over Yen Chow Street West in Sham Shui Po in the early hours of last Saturday, burning down four of 11 illegal cubicles set up for street sleepers more than 10 years ago. A woman who lived there was arrested in connection with the fire. Reporters said the 11 stand-alone cubicles were built from wooden planks, canvas and bamboo poles. Some have doors and locks and are furnished with beds, sofas and wardrobes. They even have electricity. They leave about 1.5m of space for pedestrians to cross the bridge.
More than 7,000 Home Ownership Scheme flats whose premiums have yet to be paid to the Housing Authority have been remortgaged in the past six years to finance companies for loans worth more than HK$5 billion, according to Land Registry records. This is despite the fact that borrowers have to pay lenders 20 to 40 per cent in annual interest. A total of 369 cases were found at Tin Chung Court in Tin Shui Wai.
