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SCMP Reporter

BULLDOZERS moved into the condemned Kowloon Walled City yesterday, marking the beginning of a year-long project to flatten the 2.7-hectare slum area which had been a military fort of the Qing Dynasty.

  Contractors expected the 350 buildings, mostly built without proper planning in the 1960s, to be pulled down two months ahead of schedule because of their weak structure.

  After the Director of Civil Engineering Dr Edward Brand cut a ribbon, a crane operator swung a heavy metal ball to smash the walls of a five-storey building.

  Wide applause followed each blow, smothering a protest by former Walled City residents.

  They said yesterday was ''a day of shame'' for Chinese, claiming the government should not have been allowed to knock down buildings on a piece of Chinese land.

  Twenty protesters, kept from the site by barricades and 10 policemen, shouted slogans and condemned the 100 officials and guests attending the demolition ceremony.

  A handful of spectators also gathered at the gate of the site to watch the historic event.

  According to the $42 million contract, the Express Builders-Cleveland Wrecking joint venture is required to flatten the site before May next year.

  But company experts expect the buildings to topple easily, enabling the project to be completed before then.

  The poor state of the buildings, which had been a haven for criminals and home to a host of unlicensed dentists, could also pose difficulties as they come down.

  Detailed surveying will be necessary as huge excavators and bulldozers from the United States eat their way through the tilting piles of homes and factories.

  A plan to drop the building yesterday with explosives was shelved for fear of dust pollution in nearby residential areas and the airport.

  Three US supervisors have been flown in to train workers on the big machinery, not commonly used in Hongkong.

  One of the supervisors, Mr James Hutchins, described the demolition as an easy job.

  ''The buildings are very weak. We can pull down the walls of a five-storey building in around 15 minutes,'' he said.

  Cleveland Wrecking Company president and chief executive officer, Mr William Fenning, said it was planned to take down one building at a time to avoid a domino effect.

  He said the 150,000 cubic metres of debris and rubbish would be used in reclamation.

  The site will be turned into a park, which will include some existing wells and a yamen - a military office of the Qing Dynasty built in the early 1800s - to house relics.

  The park will cost about $50 million and is scheduled to be opened in early 1996.



First blow landed as the walls come tumbling down