bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Joyce Ng

Tai Po villagers whose only access track was blocked by a developer fear the action is intended to frighten them into selling their land cheaply. 
Hours after  three one-cubic metre concrete blocks were unloaded in the middle of a path at Kei Ling Ha Lo Wai  on Thursday evening, rural committee staff arrived to create a makeshift path next to the track.
The 40-metre-long track had provided the only vehicle and pedestrian access to four houses located in the lower part of the village.
Ho Wah-kwong, an indigenous villager living in one of the houses, said he believed the  concrete blocks were placed  by Vampio,  a developer specialising in village houses, to threaten him and other landlords into selling their lots in the village.
Apart from his own house, Ho owns one of the lots of a piece of abandoned farmland next to his house. The farmland is about half the size of a football pitch.
'The developer wants to buy the whole farmland to build houses. For the past seven years he has approached me and other members in the Ho clan who have a share in the site,' he said.
The developer repeatedly offered him HK$250 per square foot for his 700-sq-ft lot, which he rejected. 
'A three-storey village house with sea views can be sold for as much as HK$10 million. The offer is too cheap,' Ho said.
He said at least five clan members have accepted the developer's offer.   Lands Department notices erected on the site confirm that five men surnamed Ho have each applied to build a village house in the area. Two of the proposed houses stand in the way of the vehicle access.
'It's not that I object to their development, but the developer should not threaten us like this, and more important, the Lands Department should make sure a new track is provided before it approves the house applications,' Ho said.
 Vampio could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Lydia Lam Sui-yin,  who lives in one of the houses that is affected,  agreed that the government should intervene as the concrete blocks prevented fire engines and sewage trucks entering the village.
She said the Tai Po District Office would arrange a meeting with the rural committee and the developer  after the Easter holidays.
Kei Ling Ha Lo Wai is the third case in which access to a village has been blocked in recent months. In October, the road linking neighbouring village Kei Ling Ha San Wai  to Sai Sha Road  was blocked with concrete barriers by a villager who wanted to build a house. 
In September, residents of Ho Chung village in Sai Kung were forced to leave their cars outside the village after a developer began building a house over the only access road.
In both cases, the Lands Department said it could not get involved as the disputes involved private land.



Villages fear track blocked to push sale