HONG KONG: Four more drug rehabilitation centers are being forced to move into new premises that meet government licensing standards. The four will follow two hostels, operated by the Christian Zheng Sheng Association in Chi Ma Wan whose planned move set off controversy that remains unresolved.

The plan by the Christian Zheng Sheng Association to move two Ha Keng hostels and a college to Mui Wo has met with strong local opposition and efforts to settle the issue are continuing. A government spokesman told China Daily the other four centers face similar relocation issues. Another 15 centers are planning in situ redevelopment or have commenced work already to fulfill licensing requisites.

Fung To-sun, the executive director of the Christian New Being Fellowship, two Sai Kung centers of which must move, said he is dissatisfied with what he called poor coordination by authorities over the past few years.

"The government initially said it would help us to get the license in four years ... but as the departments have had loose coordination, we still cannot manage to get it seven years on."

Since April 2002, all drug rehabilitation centers, except those under the Hospital Authority, have to run under licenses mandating land use, management, fire safety and building safety standards.

But the Social Welfare Department said 26 out of 39 centers have not yet met license requirements and still operate under certificates of exemption, which must be renewed once a year.

Authorities said in 2002 that government-subsidized centers would be given an exemption period of up to four years while others would be allowed up to eight years.

Fung said the Christian New Being Fellowship has operated for a long time in two village houses, a few huts constructed of tin sheeting and stone houses. These serve as the facility's training center and halfway houses, but the structures do not meet the fire safety standards set out in the ordinance.

The group wants to build a new block that is up to standard at another site, he said.

He said the fellowship is government-subsidized but authorities failed in their promise to help the fellowship obtain a license in four years. "We are here to help drug addicts kick the habit, but also have had to spare time to sort out a place to move in recent years," he said.

Fung said the government offered his organization a site nearby in 2005 or 2006, but it took years to seek and obtain approvals from different departments in their efforts to build a new center.

Recently, Fung said, it appeared all the struggles and trials were nearly over. Almost all the approvals needed to begin construction had been acquired.

Mission Ark's center in Yuen Long has been forced to relocate, said the group's spokesman.

He said Mission Ark is applying for a site in Sha Tau Kok to relocate its center. Government approval on the project has been delayed for more than three years.

The Christian New Life Association also wants to move. The group has been planning since 2003 to relocate its Yuen Long center and build a new block that meets the required standards. It wasn't until 2007 that the government suggested the organization move to a site at Sha Tau Kok.

The association now is seeking approvals from government departments so it can go forward with construction on the site.

Kwok Shu-keung, the secretary of the Glorious Praise Fellowship, which runs a drug rehabilitation center in Tuen Mun under a certificate of exemption, said its three single-storey houses lack the fire safety facilities as required in the rules imposed after 2002.

A slope near the houses also poses a hazard. Maintenance will cost about HK$7.5 million, Kwok said.

But he said its group had only raised around HK$2 million so far.

He hopes the government will subsidize his organization to carry out maintenance on the slope.

A Social Welfare Department spokesman said the department, the Narcotics Division and other concerned departments will continue to work with anti-drug agencies to help them to meet licensing requirements.

(HK Edition 07/14/2009 page1)