FURIOUS Fei Ngo Shan residents have been told they will not get any compensation for the nearly $2 billion combined drop in their property prices because of China Light and Power's (CLP) decision to route overhead electricity cables through the area.
Scores of residents wrote to CLP demanding compensation under the Electricity Networks (Statutory Easements) Ordinance, claiming a slump in house prices caused by the sight of 50-metre-tall pylons. They also feared the electromagnetic field (EMF) generated by the 400-kilovolt transmission system could cause cancer and other conditions.
Protest group, the Black Point Routing Objection Association, encouraged its members to apply for compensation. However, in a letter from CLP's solicitors, Deacon's, dated March 23, they were told they could not claim because the project was approved by the Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands and by the Governor in council.
The association claims estimates by property agents on 81 properties in the area valued them at $6 billion in 1994. They say the total has dropped by a third to $4.3 billion.
One protester, Lachmi Butani, said her house was valued at $45 million last year and it was now worth half that.
'To be honest, we do not want to move from here - this is our home. We do not want money - that is not the point,' she said.
