A proposed 19-storey care-services building for the Hong Kong Student Aid Society drew questions from legislators about the organisation’s management and ability to run expanded services. The project, planned for government land in Yau Tong, is estimated to cost about HK$370 million; the society would seek funding from the Legislative Council Finance Committee.
The building on Lei Yue Mun Path would replace the society’s headquarters and Netherlands Hostel, while allowing it to expand children’s-home services and provision for people with severe intellectual disabilities, including a hostel and an ability-development centre. The site is currently an open-air car park and public toilet. The society’s target is to complete the project within three and a half years.
Several legislators questioned whether the society had the management capacity to deliver the proposed services, while separately raising concerns about staff morale. Residents and staff have alleged high staff turnover and cuts to resources and meal budgets; the society previously denied the allegations. One legislator also queried the organisation’s ability to sustain some new services that would not receive public funding.
The Social Welfare Department said complaints about the society had been referred to the independent committee handling lump-sum-grant complaints, and its investigation was still under way. The department also monitors the society’s service quality under existing rules and service agreements.
The society’s chief executive, Yanki Cheng Ting-yan, said it had followed the department’s service-quality standards, valued the views of service users and staff, and worked to improve communication. Staff can now arrange meetings with its executive committee, in addition to the committee’s earlier unannounced visits.
The Labour and Welfare Bureau said the society would run the building after construction, but that this did not mean the building would belong to it permanently. Officials also said it was too early to decide whether the complaints could affect the redevelopment, pending the investigation’s results.
Separately, the society has brought a civil case against three former staff, alleging they breached confidentiality obligations by downloading and disclosing confidential material without authorisation.