Cheung Kong Center in Central has been accused of asking the public to leave what is supposed to be public open space outside the building.
Two complaints have been filed to the Lands Department since it was revealed this week that Times Square in Causeway Bay has been renting out its ground-floor piazza for up to HK$124,000 a day. The department confirmed yesterday it had received two complaints in the past two days.
The department said District Land Office staff had contacted management and explained the space was to be open for public use. 'Cheung Kong management said they understood,' a spokeswoman for the department said.
But a spokeswoman for Cheung Kong denied the accusations and said: 'Many people hang around there to smoke and security guards do not ask them to leave.'
Democrat lawmaker Lee Wing-tat said legislator Leung Kwok-hung and others had been told to leave when protesting outside the office tower. 'It is a public space and the security guards at Cheung Kong have no right to tell them to leave,' he said.
He had raised the issue during a meeting with the Buildings Department yesterday.