More illegal structures? Hong Kong justice minister apologises again and reveals checks on her other properties

Hong Kong’s beleaguered justice minister did not rule out the possibility that she might have other properties with unauthorised structures, as she apologised on Sunday at least seven times for failing to deal with the illegal additions to her New Territories home before taking office earlier this month.

Land Registry records reveal that Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah holds via a company at least two other properties besides her Tuen Mun home – a flat and a unit in an industrial building.

Cheng took the helm at the Department of Justice on January 6 just as news of unauthorised extensions to her home at the Villa De Mer estate in Siu Lam emerged.

Buildings Department inspectors later confirmed 10 illegal additions had been found at her house and her husband Otto Poon Lok-to’s home next door. But Cheng insisted the structures were there when she bought the three-storey property in 2008.

Breaking her silence since her last media briefing on January 10, despite calls to explain herself, Cheng said in a Commercial Radio programme that she had never considered quitting her post. She also hoped that instead of focusing on her home, people would turn their attention to her department’s work and the “many important issues” facing Hong Kong.

Why go easy on chief justice Teresa Cheng in illegal structures saga?

Asked whether she had checked for unauthorised structures at other properties she owned, Cheng revealed: “I’ve already asked authorised persons to look into other properties, and have been following up on what needs to be done.”