In Brief
Tree inspections to be stepped up as typhoon season approaches
The government will step up safety checks on trees as the typhoon and rainy season approaches, Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen said at the Legco question-and-answer session. He had ordered the Development Bureau to alert the public to potentially unstable trees. He called for efforts from all sections of society to protect the more than one million trees in the city and ensure public safety. Asked whether non-professional checks were adequate and if the public should be responsible for their own safety, Tsang said this approach was often used overseas and he would urge the relevant departments to do the follow-up work.
Penalties ruled out for guides who pressure tourists to spend
Commenting on recent scandals involving tourist guides coercing mainland tourists into making purchases at shops, the chief executive said the Tourism Commission had been urged to clarify with guides that the practice was unacceptable. Asked by Paul Tse Wai-chun, lawmaker for the tourism constituency, about measures to regulate the practice, he said: 'The government understands that guides should be given guidelines on their practices, which are also tailor-made in accordance with their needs to survive in the business, other than giving penalties on malpractices.'
Village demolition to go ahead amid doubt over farming licence
Tsoi Yuen Tsuen villagers will have to move out in October, the chief executive said. After the villagers agreed to make way for the construction of the high-speed rail link to Guangzhou in February on condition their village was relocated, concerns arose as they had not been given a farming reinstatement licence, which officials said was necessary for them to rebuild the village. Asked by Democrat lawmaker Kam Nai-wai if the government could allow a grace period for the villagers, Donald Tsang Yam-kuen said the government needed to verify the villagers' eligibility before approving the licence. 'We will try our best to help the villagers,' he said, 'but I cannot guarantee that delaying the village's demolition will be allowed.'
