Work on West Lantau farm project hits legal snag
Investigators are checking whether tractors intruded into a country park in Yi O while accessing a farm run by Leung Chun-ying aide
Conservation officers are investigating whether a large-scale farm business run by a top government adviser and Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying supporter has unlawfully intruded into its adjacent country park area.
The nine-hectare farm at Yi O on western Lantau Island - set up by urban planner Andrew Lam Siu-lo, who advised Leung in his election campaign - is not yet covered by any statutory zoning plan to regulate the land use. The area, a farm village 200 years ago, is home to the rare Romer's Tree Frog, official records say.
Land shaping work is ongoing on the farm project which started last year, but a green group said yesterday that a visit on Monday found the ecologically sensitive site burnt down, with tractors pulling over the soil.
Farm manager Alan Wong Wing-kun told the South China Morning Post yesterday that the burning was an agricultural practice to generate fertiliser. He admitted that machinery had "inevitably" entered the surrounding country park in order to access the farm.
But the Country Park Ordinance states that without a permit, vehicles are not allowed to be driven within a country park. Offenders face a fine of up to HK$2,000 and three months' jail.
"I did check the rules, but I am not aware of such a provision," said Lam in response to the Post's queries. "Maybe I don't know it well enough."