Page 93 - Urban Renewal Authority 2023-24 Annual Report
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Measures to Promote Transparency of Work Chairman’s Statement
In line with the spirit of the Urban Renewal Strategy, the URA holds a large variety of public engagement
activities such as exhibitions, surveys, public forums and workshops from time to time to gather community
stakeholders’ views on the planning and design of urban regeneration projects. Open briefing sessions are held
for owners, tenants and other stakeholder groups upon the commencement of urban redevelopment projects
and after the respective acquisition offers have been made. To enhance the wider community’s understanding of
the work of the URA, we also speak at relevant seminars, conferences and meetings of professional and other
organisations, and give briefing sessions to secondary schools. Managing Director’s Statement
We value our partnerships with local communities in undertaking renewal work in old urban areas. We regularly
brief the relevant District Councils on the progress of URA projects. We have established five District Advisory
Committees comprising representatives of the local communities including district councillors, affected owners/
tenants and district organisations to advise on community needs and aspirations with respect to urban renewal
and to enhance community understanding of the URA’s work in the districts concerned.
Corporate decisions and issues discussed by the Board are briefed to the media via management representatives
from time to time. These interactive media sessions, together with other media interviews throughout the year,
seek to promote better understanding of the mission and role of the URA and the rationale and objectives of its Operating Review
work.
The URA’s website serves as a primary electronic platform to communicate to the public about any salient
corporate development and the status of various projects and activities undertaken by URA in a timely manner.
Bilingual press statements issued on important occasions or after major events and e-newsletters are both
accessible from the URA’s website.
As a further measure to publicise our work and decisions, the Board has since February 2009 adopted the
practice of uploading bilingual summaries of confirmed minutes of Board meetings to the URA’s website. These Corporate Sustainability
summaries cover the numbers of Board members and management representatives in attendance, the agenda
items discussed and the Board’s resolutions.
To increase the transparency of our redevelopment work, URA has, with effect from June 2010, begun the
practice of disclosing annually to the Legislative Council’s Panel on Development the financial results of the
redevelopment projects completed in previous years.
Moreover, the URA is committed to providing an efficient service in the handling of public enquiries, requests
and complaints. According to our performance pledge, we strive to respond to public enquires, requests and
complaints within the following standard times.
Maximum Response Time
Management Discussion and Analysis
Enquiries and requests Within 14 working days
Complaints Within 30 working days
In the year 2023/24, the URA has handled a total of 49,691 cases including enquiries, requests and complaints.
All cases were addressed and replied within the response time as pledged.
To facilitate people of different languages and culture to access its public services, the URA has taken
appropriate and practicable supportive measures. Leaflets on acquisition and compensation/rehousing
information were translated into Bahasa Indonesia, Hindi, Nepali, Punjabi, Tagalog, Thai, Urdu and Vietnamese
and uploaded to the URA’s website. The URA has also introduced a real-time three-way telephone interpretation
service (in Bahasa Indonesia, Hindi, Nepali, Punjabi, Tagalog, Thai, Urdu and Vietnamese) provided by the
Centre for Harmony and Enhancement of Ethnic Minority Residents (CHEER) to answer enquiries from service Projects at a Glance
users of different languages. Language Identification Card prepared by the CHEER is available in the reception
areas/counters of URA offices and service centres to facilitate communication with service users of different
languages.
URA ANNUAL REPORT 2023-24 91 Corporate Governance