Hong Kong Buildings Department approved 30 building plans in March, including 12 on Hong Kong Island, seven in Kowloon and 11 in the New Territories, a government press release said on Wednesday.

Fifteen of the approved plans were for apartment and apartment/commercial developments, four were for commercial developments, two were for factory and industrial developments, and nine were for community services developments, said the press release from the Information Services Department of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government.

It also gave consent for work to start on 13 building projects that, when completed, will provide 184,420 square meters of gross floor area for domestic use, involving 3,240 units, and 228,453 square meters of gross floor area for non-domestic use.

The department also received notification of commencement of work for eight building projects in March, when the department issued 15 occupation permits, including five on Hong Kong Island, seven in Kowloon and three in the New Territories, the department said.

Of the buildings certified for occupation, there was 33,110 square meters of gross floor area for domestic use involving 489 units, and 203,257 square meters for non-domestic use.

The declared cost of the new buildings completed in March totaled about 3.7 billion HK dollars (about 475.18 million US dollars).

(Xinhua News Agency April 24, 2008)