A SCHEME to ''help decongest Statue Square'' has been given the go-ahead on a trial basis with the backing of Central landlord Hongkong Land - the company which asked the Government to reopen Chater Road on Sundays to clear it of the domestic helpers who gathered there.
The proposal, by the publisher of the magazine Tinig Filipino to turn Moreton Terrace in Causeway Bay into a market place with a ''fiesta atmosphere'' has received the green light from the Urban Services Department.
For the first three Sundays in May, two bitumen football pitches and a volleyball court will be transformed into rows of stalls, seating areas and a stage for entertainment under a plan submitted by Mrs Vonnie Boston three weeks ago.
Special coaches will ferry off-duty domestic helpers from Statue Square to the area opposite Victoria Park on the three Sundays. The bus ride and the market day will be free.
Mrs Boston hopes it will be the beginning of a continuing event which will ''drag a few more away from the Central area''.
''I hope we can organise a varied programme of things, rather than sitting around the square with nothing to do in a fairly unfriendly area,'' Mrs Boston, who already helps sponsor sports events and film screenings, said.