[Wuhan Pneumonia] Where are Hong Kong Government's Shang Fang Bao Jian seeking private property to fight the epidemic?

Politics

Written by: Zheng Baosheng

2020-02-12 07:00

Wuhan pneumonia spread all over the country. The Standing Committee of the Guangdong Provincial People's Congress held an emergency meeting on the 11th to authorize the Guangzhou and Shenzhen Municipal Governments to urgently requisition houses, facilities, and materials for emergency epidemic prevention, which is the first time since China's reform and opening up.

As soon as the news came out, there was controversy on the Internet. Originally, Hong Kong already had relevant laws that gave the government a "shangfang sword" that could temporarily or permanently requisition private properties to fight epidemics in emergencies.

Guangdong's expropriation of private property reform and opening up for the first time

What is the power of the "Decision of the Standing Committee of the Guangzhou Municipal People's Congress on Preventing and Controlling the New Coronary Pneumonia Epidemic According to Law", which was passed on the 11th in Guangdong Province? According to the law, the "Decision" authorizes the municipal and district governments and the headquarters for the prevention and control of the new crown pneumonia epidemic situation to temporarily requisition the units or individuals' houses in terms of medical care, financial security, transportation, market management, and wildlife management, etc. , Venues, vehicles and related facilities for epidemic prevention and control purposes, and may require relevant enterprises and organizations to provide epidemic prevention and control materials and daily necessities.

In simple terms, the Guangdong Provincial Government can requisition private properties and grounds for isolation, and can requisition cars for transportation, as well as requisition-related materials.

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Property expropriation under Public Health Emergencies Regulations

What about Hong Kong? It turned out that the Hong Kong Government had already held this "Shangfangbaojian" in the early days, which was the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance. Section 8 of the Ordinance, the Public Health Emergencies Regulations, states: "If the Chief Executive in Council considers any situation to be a public health emergency, the Chief Executive in Council may prevent, respond to or alleviate the public health The impact of health emergencies and regulations to protect public health ".

The regulations set by the Chief Executive can do several things, including requiring anyone to disclose or submit information related to public health emergencies, requiring public officials to disclose relevant information to the public, and appointing anyone to act as a medical and health professional.

In addition, the Chief Executive may use the above regulations to requisition property and determine compensation matters. The government can require anyone to temporarily or permanently assign designated property to a public official responsible for expropriation.

As the provisions do not detail the property included, in theory private property, transport and materials can be requisitioned, that is to say, the situation is similar to the new laws of Guangdong Province. The Hong Kong Government currently lacks the most space for segregation, so it is most likely that private property will be requisitioned.

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Government may requisition holiday camps

At present, the government has used Madame MacLehose Resort, Lei Yue Men Park Resort and Cao Gongtan Outdoor Recreation Center under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department for isolation and quarantine. In addition, the Baoliang Bureau Jockey Club Beitan Chung Holiday Camp was used as an isolation camp.

The government said earlier that the quarantine centre was nearing full capacity and that the Department of Health was liaising with other non-governmental organizations to borrow or requisition shared resorts. If the government decides to requisition the camp, it indicates the need to use the aforementioned Public Health Emergency Regulations.

Some camps are not suitable for isolation and useless

Checking the information, there are currently 24 NGO camps or centers receiving subsidies, including the Salvation Army Bradbury Camp, the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups Tai Mei Tuk Outdoor Activity Centre, etc. However, some camps may not be suitable for isolation. For example, the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups Tai Mei Tuk Outdoor Activity Centre is mainly used for water sports training. There are only 45 camps that can accommodate day camps or evening camps. They are not camping facilities and lack cooking facilities. , May not be able to accommodate a large number of people who need quarantine.

Some non-governmental organizations also have camps that can be used for isolation, such as the Zhangmutou Seniors Holiday Center, which is close to Wuxisha and can accommodate 150 people. The Breakthrough Youth Village of the Breakthrough Institution was suspended from February 3rd to 23rd. It also has a dormitory, which can be borrowed or requisitioned as a quarantine center.

Wuxisha Youth New Village approaching residential houses or encountering resistance

However, the biggest problem facing the Government at present is not the lack of suitable sites, but the opposition of district councillors and some residents when requisitioning sites. According to the cases of Fanling Huiming Village and Meifu Rao Zongyi Cultural Center's Cui Ya Shan Fang, some residents feared that the quarantine center's proximity to residential buildings would increase the risk of infection, and irrational protests such as fierce demonstrations, road blocking and even arson occurred.

Among the 27 subsidized NGO camps / centres, some of them may become "prohibited areas" in the eyes of opponents due to changes in age. For example, the Hong Kong Chinese YMCA of Wuxisha Youth Village in Wuxisha was used as an isolation camp during the SARS period in 2003. However, in 17 years, Wuxisha had a number of new partners. The Youth Village is opposite the Athens Residence; the Zhangmutou Senior Holiday Center mentioned above is opposite the Kaixian Residence in Diqin Bay. The requisition of these facilities today has greater resistance than ever before. In addition to the "shangfang sword" in the law, the Hong Kong Government also needs to calm the political wisdom of opposition.

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Campsites far from homes and accessible roads are the first choice

In short, in order to reduce resistance, if the government wants to requisition non-governmental organization camps, it is more likely to choose camps that are relatively far away from residential houses, and those that meet the conditions and have road connections, including the Hong Kong Boys and Girls' Clubs B & B Camp, The Hong Kong Chinese YMCA Lianqing Society Huang Yizhou Youth Camp, and the above-mentioned breakthrough institutions breakthrough youth villages.

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