This year's "Policy Address" proposed the development of the "Northern Metropolis", and recommended the recovery of 700 hectares of private fish ponds and wetlands, and the establishment of three wetland conservation parks.
However, the wetland is suspected of being destroyed before development. At least three fish ponds are suspected of being filled with earth in the east of the proposed Hok Kwai Wetland Conservation Park. Some fish ponds have been drained of all the water; there are also fish ponds that have been drained. Vegetation has been removed and filled up with mud heads mixed with steel bars. It is estimated that the total area affected will be at least 650,000 square feet.
The relevant land is a natural conservation area and is included in the wetland conservation area of Deep Bay. All fish ponds must also be conserved.
"Hong Kong 01" searched the land information and found that many of the fish ponds suspected of being damaged belonged to the representatives of neighboring indigenous villages. Some village representatives responded that they did not understand the situation of the fish ponds being drained.
A company that rents fish ponds stated that the filling of the ponds is for the convenience of maintenance and emphasizes the purchase of "pure raw mud" for reconstruction rather than the use of construction waste.
The Planning Department confirmed that since the beginning of this year, it has issued "Enforcement Notices" and "Enforcement Notices" to the relevant land owners in accordance with the illegal filling and filling operations of the Town Planning Ordinance at several locations in Ma Tso Lung and Ho Hok Wai. If the "reinstatement notice" is not processed in accordance with the regulations after the notice period expires, further enforcement control and prosecution actions will be considered.
The entire fish pond with an area of 220,000 square feet was drained
The "Northern Metropolis Development Strategy" suggested that the Hokkewei Wetland Conservation Park covers an area of about 300 hectares, which is described as "an important node of the East-West Bird Corridor from the south to the Longyuan Natural Ecological Park."
However, at least three fish ponds in a large area of fish ponds in the east of Ho Hok Wai, adjacent to Liu Po Village, were suspected of being damaged.
A reporter from "Hong Kong 01" visited the place in November and found that one of the fish ponds with an area of about 220,000 square feet was drained, leaving only a piece of mud with two dredgers still operating on it.
In addition, a fish pond with an area of about 268,000 square feet was filled with soil. It was also divided into three small fish ponds with mud heads. The same situation occurred in another fish pond connected with mud heads. A path was filled in the middle of the pond and turned into two small fish ponds.
The pond filled with mud is covered with concrete, and some places are placed with debris.
Checking the high-altitude photos of Google Map in 2017, the fish pond is still intact and has not been "opened".
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North District Lands Office puts up a sign indicating government land
The fish pond closest to Liubo Village is divided into four fish ponds with a total area of approximately 860,000 square feet. However, most of the original vegetation in the pond has been removed and filled with mud to a height of about two meters. .
The reporter inspected the place and found that there were a lot of debris in the mud, including steel bars, plastic bags, boulders, and even large plastic baskets. However, the mud was very strong enough for people to walk on, and there were even vehicles driving on it. pass.
On the filled mud head, the North District Lands Office has erected at least two notice boards, stating that the office belongs to government land, and "occupation, dumping, excavation and farming are not allowed. Violators will be prosecuted."
The Lands Department replied that most of the land in the Ho Kuk Wai Fish Pond is old private agricultural land and there is no use restriction. The dumping of mud did not violate the terms of the land lease.
Regarding the small part of government land involved, the North District Lands Office and the Yuen Long Lands Office took land control actions in August and erected government land notice boards. To date, there have been many inspections, and no one was found to have illegally dumped mud there.
Checking the land information of the above three fish ponds, most of the land where the pond water was drained was purchased by Deng Guowei, Deng Zhiliang, and Cai Zhiqiang in 2017.
Part of the land of Deng Guowei was transferred to Liang Nien-ru in 2019; and part of the land was the ancestral hall of the Feng family and the Wen family.
According to the website of the Rural Committee of Xia Village, Deng Guowei is the representative of the indigenous residents and villagers of Xijiang Village.
Deng Zhiliang served as chairman of the Rural Committee of Xia Village from 1995 to 1999. In 2003, he competed for the village representative of the original inhabitant of Xijiang Village, Yuen Long. However, he was reported bankrupt and was finally "DQ".
Through the secretary, Deng Zhiliang pointed out that the fish pond he held was abandoned, and he did not know the situation of the drained pond water.
Fishpond "one sub-three" renter: the original area is too big and it is inconvenient to raise fish
The land ownership of the fish ponds that were "one sub-three" was scattered. The reporter randomly inspected ten pieces of land within the fish pond area, mainly involving the landlord surnamed Feng, suspected to be the original residents of the nearby Liaobo Village, including the representatives of Yuliaobo Village and Shang Feng Xingchou, executive member of the Water District Rural Committee, is a person with the same English transliteration.
In his early years, he stated that the society has a strong demand for land for housing, but the authorities have designated large areas of land as conservation zones to protect birds, and did not make good use of the precious land resources.
Part of the fish pond sector was sold to Hong Kong British Real Estate Co., Ltd. and Fu Sheng Enterprise Development Co., Ltd., etc.
Lv Jianji, chairman of the Green Food Waste Recycling Co., Ltd., admitted that he had rented fish ponds seven years ago and had “one sub-three” and applied for a high-quality fish farm to feed fish pellets produced from food waste.
He explained that at first the place was a large fish pond, involving nearly 30 titles. The original pond has collapsed. "The (fish pond) is too big to be convenient for fish farming, so it was opened three times. It’s easy to manage.” He explained that because “fish ponds have not been dug for decades, the digging is very easy to drench, and the soil is too loose.” It is inconvenient for carts to pass by, so “pure raw mud” was purchased for reconstruction instead of construction waste. Pave a layer of "so light" asphalt for fixation.
▼Site selection of three wetland conservation parks▼
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Planning Department issues "Enforcement Notice" requesting restoration
Liu Zhaoqiang, Senior Manager of Biodiversity and Conservation Policy of WWF Hong Kong, said that the owner’s construction of ponds and asphalting and cutting of fish ponds is a fish pond management method or is not illegal, but it violates the Urban Planning Commission’s Planning Guidelines 12c. The principle of "zero loss of wetland" has resulted in loss of area and function, affecting some birds to glide and forage on the water surface of the fish pond in Hokko Wai.
If illegal construction waste is dumped in the fish pond, he believes that the situation is not ideal. In the early days of the Tai Sang Wai Shui Chau fish pond, he found waste materials such as steel bars, toilets, and God's main brand.
The Planning Department replied that it was discovered that the above site was involved in illegal pond filling and soil filling operations under the Town Planning Ordinance.
The Planning Authority issued an "Enforcement Notice" to the relevant land owner on September 17 this year in accordance with the Ordinance, requesting the suspension of illegal pond filling and soil filling operations, and issued a "Reinstatement Notice" to the land owner on November 25 this year. , Requiring that the relevant land be restored to its original condition before February 25 next year, including the removal of leftovers, gravel and filling materials from the land.
The Environmental Protection Department replied that it had received 11 complaints about illegal landfilling of fish ponds in Hok Hok Wai in the past six months. It also dispatched more than 20 surprise inspections and found that there were landfills or constructions in the area of private fish ponds and nearby ponds. The signs are related to the maintenance of fish ponds. Some landfills may exceed the scope of reasonable maintenance of ponds.
The department is currently conducting evidence searches to examine whether there are violations of the Waste Disposal Ordinance or other environmental protection laws. It has also sent a letter to the land owner stating that the disposal of construction waste on private land must comply with the requirements of the Ordinance .
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