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A fung shui wall built illegally on private land in a Sai Kung village has been torn down after a landowner for months defied an order to remove it.
But a spokeswoman for the Buildings Department said it would continue to take prosecution action against the landowner because its officers had yet to be told about the removal or asked to inspect the site.
The department issued the order to Chu Kwok-kuen, who owns the land in Sha Kok Mei village on which the three-storey wall was built, on May 31. He was told to demolish the illegal structure by June 30.
Chu, who also lives in the village, could not be reached for comment. 
The Friends of Sai Kung alerted authorities to the wall in February. The structure was never approved by the department and no one has admitted to building it.
The department spokeswoman said it had not been officially notified by the landowner - whom she did not name - that the illegal structure had been removed.
But she rejected any suggestion that the department had hired a contractor to demolish the wall. 
'It would be highly unusual for us to remove a structure on private land unless it posed a danger to the public,' she said.
The department would continue its prosecution action against the owner until it was told that the wall had been removed and it was satisfied that the order had been complied with, she said.
'The landowner has to come forward and tell us that the work has been done. Then we'll send officers to inspect the site. If this doesn't happen, the landowner might still be brought to court for trial,' she said.
If convicted, the landowner could face a maximum sentence of one year in jail and a fine of HK$200,000. If the landowner continues to breach the order, the court could impose an additional penalty of HK$20,000 a day.
A visit to the site last week by Sunday Morning Post reporters found the green wall had been removed, although its concrete foundation was still in place.
Bamboo has been planted near the foundation,  and four palm trees have also been planted next to where the wall was.
Former village chief Li Fuk-hung, and Li Fei, who owns the house directly facing the wall, have both denied responsibility for building the structure. Li Fuk-hung claimed residents built the wall to shield their houses from four rows of urns containing human remains. But Li Fei said villagers did not like their ancestral tombs facing the edge of a house, saying it was bad fung shui.



Fung Shui wall taken down