Page 93 - Urban Renewal Authority 2023-24 Annual Report
P. 93

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
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