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Tsang's cousin ends land contract

Chloe Lai

Resignation from public duties being seen as a 'best outcome' for government

A cousin of Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen yesterday terminated a contract he made with the administration to lease a site on government land in Sha Tin district.

The decision came amid growing pressure for Daniel Heung Cheuk-kei to resign his public duties. A government source confirmed last night that some in the administration held the view that Mr Heung's resignation from the chairmanship of the Committee on the Promotion of Civic Education would be a 'best outcome'. The source would not confirm whether the view had been conveyed to Mr Heung.

In a statement released yesterday, the Lands Department said Mr Heung's tenancy would end on Wednesday.

Mr Heung would demolish the house he had built on the site in Kwun Yam Shan, which was designated for warehouse purposes, and carry out restoration work as the tenancy contract required, it said.

But his decision to terminate the lease failed to cool anger over his alleged misuse of the land, and legislators want the department to tell them why it allowed the case to drag on for more than 20 years.

The Chief Executive's Office said Mr Tsang visited his cousin at Kwun Yam Shan in the late 1980s, when Mr Tsang was deputy head of the now-defunct General Duties Branch. 'He took no notice of the land lease issue when he visited,' the office said.

Critics had demanded to know whether Mr Tsang had visited his cousin at the hillside site.

On Tuesday, the department said Mr Heung, an architect and rural leader, had not informed them when he began living in the warehouse in the village in 1983, when Mr Tsang was the district officer. District offices ran land offices then. Mr Heung applied to have the short-term tenancy contract put in his name only in 1994.

He said he had moved out in early 1999 after the Lands Department rejected in late 1998 his application to turn the warehouse site into a residential plot.

Mr Heung was awarded a Silver Bauhinia Star in July 2005. He holds a number of public titles, the most prominent being chairman of the civic education committee.

Architect Patrick Lau Sau-shing of The Alliance said: 'Mr Heung is an architect. He has no excuse for this case. He should know he should not turn the site into his home until he has government approval.'

Dr Lau will suggest that the Lands Department be invited to discuss the issue at Legco's planning, lands and works panel. Other panel members, including Democratic Party chairman Lee Wing-tat and non-affiliated legislators Kwok Ka-ki and Albert Chan Wai-yip, also called for the government to explain the issue to the legislature.

Mr Heung was not available for comment yesterday.

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