Hong Kong buildings authority confirms 10 illegal structures at three properties of Hong Kong justice minister Teresa Cheng
For first time, Buildings Department verifies existence of home enhancements at embattled official’s flat in Repulse Bay and two more units in Sha Tin
Hong Kong’s beleaguered justice minister Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah was confirmed on Friday to have illegal structures at three more properties, officials said.
It is the first time the Buildings Department verified the existence of unauthorised structures at the properties. The news followed Cheng’s disclosure on Sunday of potential illegal structures at the locations.
Only actionable illegal structures need to be removed, but the department said the justice minister would also rectify the other ones.
The three actionable structures included a defective lobby and altered windows at Cheng’s HK$62 million (US$7.9 million) flat at Sea Cliff Mansions in Repulse Bay, as well as a supporting frame for an air conditioner at her property in Kin Ho Industrial Building in Sha Tin.
The rest were balcony railings, defective fire-resistant doors and small supporting frames for air conditioners at Sea Cliff; additional partitions, small supporting frames for air conditioners and defective fire-resistant doors at Kin Ho; and a substandard fire-resistant door in a flat at Royal Ascot, also in Sha Tin.
“After considering the rectification works proposal ... the [department] has replied to [Cheng’s representatives] about its acceptance of the proposal,” the authority said in its statement.
It added that the works at Sea Cliff would take about three months to complete while structures at the other two properties would be finished in one week.
Cheng is suspected to have bought her Sea Cliff flat as a first-time buyer, paying a stamp duty of HK$2.6 million, despite already holding properties through her companies.
Had she not bought that flat as a first-time buyer, she would have had to pay HK$9.3 million in stamp duty.