Following the order to remove scaffold nets issued by the Buildings Department (BD), as of 6pm today, 224 private buildings have had their scaffold nets removed from external walls.

Four cases undergoing removal work have requested an extension of time which the BD has accepted. It is expected that the work will be finished within this week.

The removal work of scaffold nets from the remaining two private buildings has been affected by ongoing contractual disputes between the contractors and the incorporated owners. The BD has arranged for government contractors to carry out the work and will recover the costs later.

Additionally, the Architectural Services Department has completed the removal of scaffold nets at the government buildings under its purview before the deadline.

Financial support
As of 1pm today, donations received for the Support Fund for Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po have reached about $3 billion, on top of the $300 million startup capital from the Government, taking the fund's total to around $3.3 billion.

The Government earlier announced that the fund will provide a living allowance to each affected household. As of today, 1,273 cases have been processed. The living allowance is increased from $50,000 to $100,000 and will be disbursed in phases.

The fund will also provide families of each deceased victim with a token of solidarity of $200,000, as well as $50,000 to cover funeral costs. As of today, a total of 90 cases have been processed.

The Government has so far disbursed an emergency subsidy of $10,000 to 1,931 households.

Social workers from the Social Welfare Department have been in contact with more than 1,970 affected households, and more than 4,900 residents have been registered for the “one social worker per household” follow-up service. 

Accommodation arrangements
As of this morning, a total of 1,408 residents have been accommodated through the co-ordination of the Home & Youth Affairs Bureau, in youth hostels, camps or hotel rooms. Another 2,702 residents have moved into transitional housing units provided by the Housing Bureau or units from the Hong Kong Housing Society.

Relief supplies
On the supplies donation online platform, the Government has so far received about 1,600 registrations, of which approximately 30% were submitted by organisations. Over 4,800 pieces of donation items covering various categories have been distributed to different places.

Regulation work   
As of 4pm today, the Labour Department has inspected 332 construction sites, issued a total of 170 written warnings and 95 improvement notices, and taken out 25 prosecutions.