Crumbling MK building was thought to be low-risk: URA
A Mong Kok building which shed chunks of concrete twice this week was classified as a low-risk structure when its owners applied to join an inspection and maintenance scheme five years ago, according to the Urban Renewal Authority (URA). The incidents involving Po On Building on Mong Kok Road left one person injured and sparked concerns regarding the safety of older blocks across the territory.  A URA building rehabilitation director, Daniel Ho, told RTHK on Friday that the owners of the Po On Building applied to join the Operation Building Bright scheme in late 2018 and the block was put in the last of five batches of buildings to be dealt with. "There's a basket of factors we look at [when deciding the priority]. These include the building's age and condition, and whether it has a statutory notice yet to be complied with," Ho said. "We were handling a lot of applications, so we do some calculations to assess the situation. Po On Building at that time was of low-risk, based on our assessment." He said the application was approved in March 2021 and a tendering exercise was launched in November that year. But the pandemic caused a further delay because building owners couldn't meet to discuss the issue. The URA director said the law doesn't recognise the validity of any meetings of building owners held online, and the authority earlier proposed that the government change this. He said it generally takes three years or so to complete the maintenance process but extensions were granted for many blocks, including Po On Building, because of the pandemic.