Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands opens URA Information Centre

The Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands, Mr Michael Suen, today (Thursday) officiated at the inauguration ceremony of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA)'s Information Centre, which serves as an important communication link between the Authority and members of the public.

In a welcome speech at the ceremony, the Chairman of the URA, Dr Lau Wah-sum, emphasised that the Authority was striving to build a close working relationship with various stakeholders in order to achieve the best possible results for urban renewal.

The URA has been tasked to accomplish 225 projects throughout the territory in the next 20 years. But within the same time span, the number of aging buildings will increase. Dr Lau described the challenge as an upstream struggle.

He said: "We know that it is absolutely impossible for us to keep moving upstream solely by ourselves. We and our stakeholders are all in the same boat. We must work hand in hand with the Government and various sectors of the community."

The Authority has therefore put emphasis, in its corporate mission statement, on building a partnership with the Government, public and private organisations in housing business and the community.

Dr Lau said the Authority had made good progress in three major tasks since its setting up in May last year, which included adopting a new organisational structure, devising its first five-year Corporate Plan and the 4Rs strategy, namely rehabilitation, redevelopment, preservation and revitalisation, and commencing the first batch of "early launch" projects.

The opening of the Information Centre is to enhance public understanding of the work of the URA and solicit the support of various sectors of the community in urban renewal.

"Through persistent publicity and education efforts, we hope to change the attitude of the general public and let them know that urban renewal is not the sole responsibility of the Government and the URA, but an obligation that every community member, flat owners and tenants should share," Dr Lau said.

Located at the tenth floor of the Low Block of the Grand Millennium Plaza at 181 Queen's Road Central, the Information Centre depicts the new 4Rs strategy of the URA and its redevelopment plans with multi-media presentation techniques, including interactive computer games.

Admission is free. The Information Centre is open from 10 am to 1 pm and from 2 pm to 5 pm, Mondays to Fridays (except public holidays). For details, please contact the External Relations Department of the URA at 2588 2333.