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hawkers and preventing illegal parking, the HD wouldconsult the FSD and, where possible, would use crash gateor removable poles and accept the risk of vandalism.Furthermore, the HD would put up clearer signages on EVAsin housing estates and warn against any obstruction. Theestate layout plan, with EVAs clearly marked on it, wouldbe put up in the notice board of the estate office forinspection. A copy of the plan would be provided to thelocal fire station.Establishment of an Inter-departmental Working Group4.55 As mentioned in para. 3.6 in Chapter 3 above,there was communication between the FSD and HD over firesafety matters at the planning stage of new estates, andin respect of the annual maintenance of FSIs andequipment, and notification of suspension of service forrepair. After the Yue Wan Estate fire, an InterdepartmentalWorking Group (WG) was established at theheadquarters level to, insofar as EVAs were concerned,examine the feasibility of enhancing the provision ofEVAs, particularly in the older estates, e.g. extendingthe EVAs at the Yue Wan Estate.4.56 Since its setup in August 1995, the WG has metseveral times and has drawn up recommendations ofimprovement works regarding EVAs, etc. in PHEs. It hasalso formulated a set of policy lines to streamline theserecommendations and set out possible alternatives in casethere are physical constraints in meeting the currentstandard.4.57 The WG has initially adopted the followinggeneral approach to EVA improvement works -(a) to review the EVA provision in estatesaccording to the current standard;(b) to adopt a flexible approach where thecurrent standard cannot be fully met dueto physical constraints; and(c) to enhance FSI provisions to blocks whereEVAs are not available and whereimprovement to unsatisfactory EVAs cannotbe achieved due to physical constraints.- 48 -