Kuk urged to solve village eviction row

Villagers threatened with eviction from homes that have been in their families for decades have called on the Heung Yee Kuk to step in to solve the dispute.

Seven families are fighting a bid by indigenous villager Man Fong-hang to move them from land in Mai Po Lung Village that he claims to own.

The village, near San Tin in Yuen Long, is home to several hundred people. The seven families, who are not indigenous, received notice last year that their leases had ended and they had to move out.

The residents said they had asked the kuk, the powerful rural affairs body that defends the interests of indigenous villagers, to step in and it had agreed to do so, but since then they have heard nothing.

'We have met Heung Yee Kuk members but we have not heard from them about our request,' said Keith Au Kwok-kuen, a representative of a concern group for the residents.

The residents said they had never heard of or seen Man during their decades in the village and that eviction would break up a tight-knit community.

Man is taking his case to the Lands Tribunal, which held a brief hearing on the case yesterday.