Abode rally extension sought
Abode seekers sought to extend their stay at Chater Garden yesterday despite hygiene complaints at the site, where claimants have been camping since January.
The abode seekers, who have permission to stay at Chater Garden until Monday, notified police yesterday that no more than 2,000 people wanted to continue rallying there until April 22.
The move came as the Leisure and Cultural Services Department confirmed it had received 'a few complaints' about hygiene at Chater Garden since abode seekers started cooking, eating and sleeping there. 'We have approached the stayers there and asked them to be considerate and not to litter or cause any inconvenience to other park users,' a spokeswoman said.
Hundreds of abode seekers rallied at the site after the Court of Final Appeal handed down its landmark ruling on January 10, while dozens sleep there every night. The January 10 ruling found the abode seekers were subject to Beijing's reinterpretation, which overturned the top court's January 1999 ruling in favour of the claimants.
A spokesman for the abode seekers could not be reached for comment yesterday.
But the director of Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor, Law Yuk-kai, urged the Government not to use the complaints as an excuse to force the abode seekers out, saying Chater Garden was also a place where people could express themselves in public.
Liberal Party legislator Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yee, who represents the retail and wholesale sector in Legco, added: 'Chater Garden is a public space and a balance should be struck between the freedom to demonstrate or congregate in public places' and its use as a public thoroughfare.
Hong Kong Tourism Board spokeswoman Donna Mongan said it had not received any complaints.
The park is a popular meeting place for migrant workers on weekends. Eman Villanueva, of the United Filipinos in Hong Kong, said although workers had been forced to move they sympathised with the abode seekers.
