The Development Bureau will expand Operation Building Bright to cover more buildings that need maintenance, Secretary for Development Carrie Lam said.
     The scheme, jointly funded by the Government, Housing Society and Urban Renewal Authority, originally offered HK$1 billion to help about 1,000 buildings do maintenance projects over a three-year period.
     A total of 1,100 applications submitted by owners' corporations were received when the application closed. The Buildings Department selected another 226 buildings without owners' corporations to join the scheme, and the 18 District Councils nominated 501 buildings.
     "The number of applications received has exceeded the target. We are fortunate the Financial Secretary has put aside HK$1 billion when he announced the additional relief measures on May 26, in case we needed to expand the scheme," she said.
     The additional HK$1 billion should be able to cover maintenance cost of 1,000 buildings and create 10,000 jobs, Ms Lam said.
     She said she will update the Legislative Council's Development Panel on June 23 on the latest situation and get support from the Legislators for the additional funding. An official application will be submitted to the LegCo Finance Committee on July 3.
     "We should be able to meet each and every one of the 1,000-plus applications, provided they meet the eligibility criteria. There may be surplus for a few hundred more buildings. If that's the case, we will start application procedure in the fourth quarter," she said.