Civic Exchange calls for ruling on 'unsustainable' small house policy
Think tank urges government to seek an interpretation of 'unsustainable' policy that favours indigenous men in the New Territories
The government has been urged to seek a court ruling on whether building a three-storey house is a traditional right of indigenous villagers that is protected by the Basic Law.
The call came from public policy think tank Civic Exchange, which termed the practice "fundamentally unsustainable".
Civic Exchange yesterday published a second report on the policy - under which male villagers in the New Territories have the right to build a 700 sq ft house - after its first one in 2003.
The report's author, Mandy Lao Man-lei, said there was no basis for the claim by rural advisory body Heung Yee Kuk that the right was protected under the Basic Law's Article 40.
"While the small-house grant application refers to a 'right', the administration has publicly stated that the indigenous villager's right to a small house is not a statutory entitlement but an administrative measure because no legislation was ever passed on this," said Lao.
The report quoted a High Court case early last year, in which it said the judge was hampered by lack of evidence as to precisely what rights were traditionally exercised by indigenous villagers. In the case, an indigenous villager living in Australia challenged a rejection of his application for a small-house grant.