Heung Yee Kuk to petition, but not protest, outside Legco over park plan

Rural powerbrokers the Heung Yee Kuk will rally supporters to surround the Legislative Council building next month in a "marathon-style petition" ahead of a vote on whether an enclave should be folded into the Sai Kung East Country Park.

But the group insisted the event would not be a "protest".

At a kuk meeting yesterday, village representatives promised to mount a campaign in support of kuk chairman Lau Wong-fat's Legco bid calling on the government to scrap plans to make Tai Long Sai Wan part of the park. The amendment to the legislative motion that would incorporate the enclave into the park will be decided on December 4.

The plan to incorporate the enclave, made up largely of private land, would go "against the Basic Law" and represent a "breach of villagers' property rights", Lau said yesterday.

The majority of Beijing-loyalist parties have backed Lau, who said he was seeking support from pan-democrats, most of whom support the government. If none of the 18 pan-democratic lawmakers representing geographical constituencies supported Lau's motion, it would fail due to Legco's split-voting system.

The kuk said it would collect HK$20 donations from villagers to "take the government to court" and publish advertisements in newspapers later this week to explain villagers' concerns.