When Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was appointed Director of the Development Bureau in 2011, he stated that he wanted to crack down on illegal construction in the New Territories. In exchange, the squire burned the paper dolls and coffins of "Lammen Cheng".
"Village buildings" with four or more floors were the target of the first round of banning. However, in the past ten years, the authorities have only identified 208 buildings, and only 19 of them have been demolished for unauthorized construction. The progress is slow. In exchange, the Office of the Ombudsman made another move after ten years. investigation.
This year, the authorities issued an illegal construction clearance order against 80 village houses in Xintian, Yuen Long. The former chairman of the Shiba Township Committee, Liang Fuyuan, angrily denounced, insisting that the clearance would only make the villagers homeless. He believed that law enforcement should be suspended. Construction is not unique to the New Territories. "There are many rooftop houses in the urban area. We don't want to demolish them. We all hope that we can keep the caged homes!"
"01 Investigation" series of reports:
57 "village buildings" in San Tin, Yuen Long, were ordered to demolish the entire building and the township committee's intervention plan was dragged to the re-election of the government
Lam Cheng threatened to crack down on unauthorized construction of "village buildings" for ten years, the authorities only identified 208 buildings and only 19 buildings were demolished
In November 2011, the Secretary for Development, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, insisted on cracking down on illegal construction of village houses in the New Territories. This caused opposition from villagers in the New Territories.
(Getty Images)
According to the Buildings Ordinance (Applicable to the New Territories) Ordinance, village houses of no more than three stories, no more than 27 feet in height, and an area of no more than 700 feet on each floor can be exempted from the regulations governing construction, construction or design of buildings.
In 2011, Carrie Lam strongly claimed to fight against illegal squires in the New Territories.
In 2011, the Office of The Ombudsman criticized the government for its ineffective enforcement of illegal construction of village houses in the New Territories, and it was suspected of "preferential treatment of village houses in the New Territories".
The then Secretary for Development, Lam Cheng-yue, immediately threatened to crack down on illegal construction of village houses in the New Territories and clear them "all the same."
The statement aroused opposition from villagers in the New Territories and surrounded the Legislative Council in protest. At the time, the chairman of the Ping Shan Township Committee, Zeng Shuhe, even called the slogan at the village meeting: "Protecting the family is reasonable and fighting is not guilty."
As a result, Lam Cheng also had an antagonism with the New Territories squires, and the relationship did not break the ice until the 2017 Chief Executive election.
After Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor cracked down on the illegal construction of the New Territories, she had an antagonism with the squire, and did not visit the Heung Yee Kuk until the election of the chief executive in 2017, breaking the ice.
(Information Picture/Photo by Zhong Weide)
Government relaxes arrangements Carrie Lam denies "half kneeling"
In June of the same year, the Buildings Department relaxed the arrangement and announced the "New Territories Village House Unauthorized Construction Declaration Plan". If voluntarily declared, the removal of 11 types of illegal structures, including cantilevered balconies and canopies, can be postponed. This is only for serious violations that involve buildings. Village houses four storeys or above are listed as targets for the first round of banning.
At that time, Lam Cheng, who was dubbed "Good Fighter", denied that he "kneeled down" to the squire.
However, the arrangement still caused protests by nearly a thousand villagers. In November of the same year, villagers in the New Territories once burned the paper dolls and coffins of "Lam Mun Cheng".
Name the six-story building of Fantian Village, Xintian
On April 1, 2012, the new policy was officially implemented. Owners of low-risk buildings that violate the regulations can declare themselves, and then verify the safety of the building within six months, and then re-inspect every five years to temporarily retain unauthorized structures ; Serious illegal structures must be cleared immediately.
Regarding the handling of village houses in the New Territories, Lam Cheng emphasized that fairness would be the priority at the time, and selected a village from each of the nine administrative districts in the New Territories to allow the Buildings Department to conduct a comprehensive inspection, evidence search and law enforcement. A removal order will be issued at that time. .
In Xintian Fantian Village, she was once named as an example of serious illegal structures. A six-story village house was built there, and the court prosecuted it to demolish the third floor.
The Ombudsman Zhao Huixian said at the end of June this year that he would proactively investigate the illegal construction works of exempted buildings in the New Territories, and would also investigate the enforcement measures and effectiveness of the Buildings Department and the Lands Department on the issue.
(Information Picture/Photographed by Lu Yiming)
Inspected 48,000 village houses in eight years and issued 1,500 demolition orders
However, nine years have passed since the actual law enforcement work has not been strictly implemented. This year, the Office of The Ombudsman "takes action" to actively investigate the enforcement measures and effectiveness of the Buildings Department and the Lands Department on the issue.
"Hong Kong 01" enquired with the Buildings Department about the progress of the first round of removal of the target illegal structures, and a reply stated that between April 2012 and December 2020, 260 villages were inspected, involving more than 48,000 village houses, and 1,380 were identified. This village house belongs to the first round of banning illegal structures.
As of the end of last year, about 1,500 removal orders have been issued for the above illegal structures, 600 of which are village houses in Yuen Long District. A total of more than 740 removal orders have been complied with, and 55 removal orders are under appeal.
There are 208 village houses above four storeys that are among the first round of banned illegal structures. Of these, the removal orders for 19 village houses have been complied with, that is, only 10% of the village houses have been removed in accordance with the removal orders issued by the authorities. Action was taken, but the remaining 90% of the village houses did not follow the instructions.
Leung Fu-yuan, the former chairman of the Shiba Township Committee, pointed out that the housing problem in Hong Kong has not yet been resolved. If the government insists on clearing illegal structures, it will only intensify public anger and worsen the housing problem.
(Profile picture/Fangjia Telephoto)
Liang Fuyuan: Make more people homeless
Liang Fuyuan, the former chairman of the Shiba Township Committee, said after he was informed that the demolition would only aggravate the housing problem and arouse public anger: "The housing problem has not been resolved now. I have always told not to demolish. (Unauthorized construction) has existed for decades. , Making more people homeless."
When asked whether the preferential treatment of illegal structures in village houses in the New Territories would cause injustice, he immediately scolded: "It's not fair! Others go to public housing for rotation. The illegal construction is not unique to villages or villages. I don’t know how many canopy (taiwan) houses are in the urban area. I don’t even want to demolish the urban area. I want to keep the caged houses! You are instigating separation, lest the society is not chaotic enough."
Chen Jianqing, a member of the local research agency, pointed out that the authorities have suspended law enforcement against illegal construction of village houses in the New Territories for many years, but discovered that several clearance orders have been issued in many areas in the New Territories recently. The situation in Xintian is the most serious.
(Photo/Photo by Ou Jiale)
Chen Jianqing: It may be related to the deprivation of rural power
Chen Jianqing, a member of the local research agency, said that the relevant law enforcement work has been suspended for many years. Recently, the authorities have begun to issue a number of removal orders for illegal construction in different areas of the New Territories. The situation in Xintian is the most serious.
He believes that the government's handling of the problem is related to the increase in public attention to the problem of illegal construction of village houses in the New Territories in recent years and the weakening of rural power. Whether it can be cleared depends on the government's determination to implement this time.
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