A Tai Po kindergarten may be forced to close after it failed to gain permission from the Housing Authority to lease a vacant site on a housing estate.
Lola Louie, principal of Nature Education Kindergarten, said the authority had so far denied her permission to rent the premises on Wan Tau Tong Estate because she had failed to produce a bank statement with a seven-digit balance.
'I am really angry,' she said. 'My application has been sitting on the estate surveyor's desk for months. The site has been empty for more than three years.
'The incorporated owners are happy we are moving in as no one wants it except us. But there still has not been a formal acceptance or rejection. Since time is running short, I have told parents to go find another school.'
Ms Louie has complained to the Ombudsman, accusing housing officials of 'erecting obstacle after obstacle' in a bid to get her to withdraw her application.
'First they said it would not comply with fire regulations. But I know the site used to be occupied by a kindergarten as recently as 2003,' she said. 'Are they saying back then they were breaching these regulations?
'They cited problems with insurance, problems with land use and issues with electricity supply.