Fines for harming scenic beach too low, greens say
The latest fines of between HK$450 and HK$800 imposed on workers involved in causing environmental damage, have been criticised as being too lenient.
Three drivers, four employees of a development company and a machinery supplier were given the fines for illegally transporting diggers to a beach, in Sai Wan, Sai Kung Country Park, in July for excavation work that caused a public uproar.
The cases were brought by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department under the Country Park Ordinance and were heard in Kowloon City Court 12 days ago.
The sentences have been criticised by green activists as being too soft. The ordinance allows for a maximum fine of HK$2,000 and three months' jail.
'The sentence is too light,' said Peter Li Siu-man, campaign manager of the Conservancy Association. 'It is a deliberate breach of the law and not an accidental trespassing into the country park. What these people moved into Sai Wan were not private cars but construction machinery that have already inflicted serious damage on the scenic beach.'
Li called on the agricultural department and the Lands Department to file a request to the court via the Department of Justice to review the sentences, which he said did not match the severity of the offences. 'A few hundred dollars of fines is just equal to tiny portion of the fuel costs they paid,' he said.
In related cases brought by the Lands Department, fines of HK$1,000 to HK$30,000 were handed down on unnamed parties for illegally excavating government land on the scenic beach. Another unnamed party was fined HK$3,000 for water pollution caused by the excavated site.
The department said it brought 'concerned parties' to court on December 29, but offered no further details of the case.
It said it was seeking legal advice on the sentences and therefore could not provide more details.
The land-excavation offence carries a maximum fine of HK$50,000 and six months' jail.
The South China Morning Post broke the story about the damage to the scenic beach last summer.
The story prompted a public outcry against the private works being carried out on the site, by a private company controlled by Simon Lo Lin-shing, Mongolia Energy chairman, and his wife.
In the face of public pressure, the government finally introduced an interim zoning order on Sai Wan that was approved by the Town Planning Board. The case also exposed how other country park enclaves are unprotected. In September, the government also imposed temporary zonings on Sai Kung's Hoi Ha and Pak Lap, and Plover Cove Country Park's So Lo Pun.
A senior AFCD official last night said evidence and testimony they collected had led to the successful prosecutions.
'When we collected the testimony from the persons involved, they admitted the accusations and told us how they got to Sai Wan,' he said.
