The Housing Authority's joint working group for securing workers' wage payments has come into operation and mapped out its work plan.

Including workers and employers from across the industry spectrum, the working group members will visit sites and meet at least once every six months to review the measures' effectiveness. Further studies and improvement proposals will be made whenever appropriate.

Working group chairwoman, Deputy Director of Housing Ada Fung, said their foremost task will be to promote awareness of the authority's improvement measures for securing workers' wage payments among stakeholders in the industry, especially sub-contractors and workers.

She said wage arrears were also attributed to inadequacies in the local construction industry's sub-contracting system.

"Implementing the subcontractors and workers registration scheme in full scale so as to enhance transparency of the whole industry will be the long-term and fundamental solution," she said.