Hundreds call for development minister Paul Chan to step down
Villagers oppose plans for new town by vowing to defend their homes and calling for the head of embattled development chief Paul Chan
Hundreds of angry villagers came out in force yesterday to deliver a message to the embattled development minister - withdraw the plan to redevelop the northeastern New Territories and step down.
Waving tree branches they took from their villages to symbolise the love of their land, the villagers pledged they would defend their homes at all costs.
"Withdraw the redevelopment plan and step down. We are not leaving our home," the crowds chanted during a two-hour march from Causeway Bay to the government headquarters in Admiralty.
They also demanded that Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying resign for keeping Paul Chan Mo-po in the post of secretary for development.
The Civil Human Rights Front, which organised the protest, said 3,000 people took part. Police said 2,100 joined the protest at its peak.
Chan has been embroiled in a controversy over his involvement in the development of a new town at Kwu Tung North, where his family owns 18,000 square feet of farmland.
Last Thursday his wife, Frieda Hui Po-ming, released a sales contract that showed she had sold her shares in the company that bought the land to a family member.