HK$30 million to renovate Hong Kong leader’s official home a ‘necessary’ expenditure

The Hong Kong government has spent a total of about HK$29.8 million in the last five years to renovate and preserve Government House, the official residence of the city’s leader Leung Chun-ying.

Another HK$3.8 million and HK$790,000 were spent on the residences of the chief secretary and financial secretary respectively for similar work, but the government’s architectural services chief said the expenditure was necessary to preserve the historical buildings.

The government was criticised last month for its HK$830,000 makeover for the official residence of financial secretary Paul Chan Mo-po at 45 Shouson Hill Road as Chan’s tenure may last for only four more months.

Lawmakers filed a series of questions ahead of special Finance Committee meetings on the budget, which started on Friday. The questions were addressed to various departments, asking them to explain their spending. Some queries focused on the renovation of official residences.

In a written reply to those questions, director of architectural services Leung Koon-kee revealed that a total of HK$29.77 million was spent on Government House, a 162-year-old monument in which British colonial governors and former chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen previously lived.

Leung Chun-ying and his family moved into the mansion in October 2012 after an internal refit that cost HK$4.9 million and a series of preservation work, including the replacement of roof tiles, which cost a further HK$9.95 million.