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Sandy Li

Property owners and retailers in the Sha Tau Kok want travel restrictions to be lifted when the Hong Kong government begins to shrink the security cordon next year around the area, which borders the mainland.
'Sha Tau Kok is like an empty town, as it is isolated from the rest of the world by the travel restrictions,' said John Tsang Yuk-on, the chairman of the local chamber of commerce.
'It is a waste of land resources if the town remains closed to outsiders. 
'The town is the only place in the frontier closed area with built-up community facilities and is ready for housing development once the restrictions are lifted.'
In 1952, in an effort to combat illegal immigration and smuggling, the Hong Kong government set up the 'frontier closed area' on its northeastern border with China. It covers about 2,800 hectares, including the former fishing village and small port of Sha Tau Kok on Starling Inlet.
Under existing restrictions, visitors have to apply for permits to enter the fenced-off area, and it can take up to a week to obtain one.
In 2006, the government said it would begin to wind back the closed area from about 2,800 hectares to 400 hectares, allowing unrestricted access to all land south of the existing boundary patrol road on the northern border, together with the Lok Ma Chau Loop, Hoo Hok Wai and two patches of land northwest of Lin Ma Hang Village and north of Pak Fu Shan.
Residents of Sha Tau Kok appealed for their town to be included in the scheme, but Secretary for Security Ambrose Lee Siu-kwong has said that since there were no barriers or checkpoints to mark the boundary between Hong Kong and the mainland, which ran through the town along Chung Ying Street, this could not be considered.
'Chung Ying Street is a narrow street,' Lee said. 'There is no physical barrier to delineate the boundary between Hong Kong and the mainland, nor are there any proper boundary-control facilities. 
'In addition, smuggling and illegal immigration activities conducted through Chung Ying Street persist.'  
The government is willing to discuss a partial opening up of sections of the town, including a pier on Starling Inlet to allow for eco-tourism.
Tsang said this meant the town's shops would continue to suffer from a lack of business.
In addition, three plots of land that could be developed into an estimated 1,000 units would lie idle.
The town, which has about 6,000 residents, has full community facilities, such as a post office, a bank, shops, and a ferry pier - recently renovated at a cost of HK$64 million - that linked it to 14 villages in the area, but  these facilities would also be underused, he said. 
The appeal to release the land for development comes in the wake of a statement last week from the Transport and Housing Bureau that new housing units available for sale had fallen to 47,000 units at the end of last month from 49,000 at the end of June. The supply pipeline is at its lowest level since the bureau began to keep records in the third quarter of 2004.
Fuelled by the tight supply of new flats, home prices have jumped 27.56 per cent since the beginning of the year, according to the Centaline City Leading Index, and returned to the peak level of last year.
In Sha Tau Kok, seaview units sell for HK$2,000 per square foot, with some flats in older buildings selling for as little as HK$1,000 per square foot, said Tsang, who expected prices to jump 20 per cent to 30 per cent if access to the town opened further.
In the hope of capitalising on that rise, villager Wan Wah-yan bought two properties in Sha Tau Kok.
'Now, I have to keep the two properties for my own use. Who will buy them if it remains a closed area?' he said. 
Because of the restrictions imposed by the closed area, there have been fewer than 10 property transactions in Sha Tau Kok since January, with each deal worth HK$600,000 to HK$700,000, he said.
Tsang, who is indigenous to the area, has moved to Sha Tin because of Sha Tau Kok's inaccessibility. Buying daily necessities is hard, as only a few shops are open for business.
'I will move back to Sha Tau Kok if the town opens, and so will other villagers. With an improvement in accessibility, buyers may considering moving here, as home prices will be less expensive when compared with urban areas,' he said.
Some villagers have moved to the more developed and prosperous Shenzhen border, Tsang said.
These villagers have left their Sha Tau Kok properties vacant because they still need entry permits to travel to Shenzhen through the closed area.



Sha Tau Kok seeks open access