Cap. 261 Art. 11ASpecial powers of the Chairman of the Authority.

In addition to the powers conferred on him by any or all of the foregoing provisions of this Act or by the provisions of any other law, the Chairman shall also have the power to:

(a) administer oaths for the purpose of the proper performance of his functions, as well as for the proper administration and execution of this Act, which power he may also delegate to any other officer of the Authority; dwelling or an alternative site which is owned by the same Authority or upon which it enjoys any right, due to the presence of imminent danger and in order for the Authority to be able to carry out urgent structural repairs or any maintenance or other urgent works within the Authority’s property or land in accordance with the provisions of article 4(1)(e) and (3)(a) of the Act, and the Authority shall also have the right to request the assistance of the Executive Police to execute such order;

(c) following consultation with the Board, request any person, including any public officer in the service of the Government, any bank or any firm, partnership, company or corporation to furnish him with all the information that he may require in order to be able to arrive at any decision or to revise any decision, which he may take under the foregoing provisions of this Act. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law requiring secrecy in force before, on or after the coming into force of this Act, but without prejudice to the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) (‘GDPR’) and the Data Protection Act, the said officers are hereby authorised to furnish the Chairman with any such information that he may require: Provided that except insofar as may be necessary for the proper discharge of his functions and duties or for the purpose of a prosecution, the Chairman shall be bound to observe secrecy with respect to any information furnished to him under this paragraph, which apart from this paragraph, ought to be treated as secret, and the provisions of article 133 of the Criminal Code shall apply to any wilful breach of such duty:

Provided further that the provisions of the immediately foregoing proviso shall also apply to any officer or other employee of the Authority concerned, who for any reason whatsoever, becomes aware of such information during the proper discharge of his duties;

(d) request any person who is applying to become a beneficiary under any scheme provided, managed, administered or reviewed by the Authority from time to time, or who inhabits a property leased by the Authority, to produce his income tax returns and, or assessments for the purpose of establishing his net income or earnings.

with effect from such day as may be specified in any such order (hereinafter referred to as "the appointed day"), and by virtue of this Act and without further assurance, be transferred to and vest in the Authority under the same title by which they were held by the Government before such day: Provided that any such order may also provide for the transfer of the administration or other rights pertaining to Government in relation to such immovable assets.

(2) Where in respect of any property or right comprised in the immovable assets, any act, proceedings or other thing is in the process of being done or is still operative immediately before the appointed day under the provisions of the Land Acquisition (Public

Purposes) Ordinance, including any judicial act or other proceeding, such act, proceedings or other thing may, notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, be continued, and any further acts, proceedings or things may be done, by the competent authority, within the meaning of that Ordinance, in accordance with the provisions of that Ordinance as if the property to which they refer were to be acquired by that authority; but any such acquisition shall be made by or in the name and for the benefit of the Housing Authority.

(3) Any sums required to acquire any of the immovable assets, or any part thereof, or any right in or over such assets, or to discharge any liability to which they may be subject, and any sums required to complete, ready for occupation, any of the immovable assets which are still under construction or not completed as aforesaid on the appointed day shall, unless different provision is made in the estimates of the Authority as approved by the House of Representatives, be paid to the Authority out of the Consolidated Fund and shall be a charge on such Fund by virtue of this Act and without further appropriation.