A controversial law that facilitates redevelopment of old buildings by private developers is likely to be passed tomorrow with the majority of lawmakers indicating support, although others are making an attempt to defer the measure's effective date by a year.
Lawmakers from the pan-democratic camp and independent Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee have indicated they would propose amendments to the government proposal, which would allow developers to seek compulsory sale of a building after acquiring 80 per cent of the property interests in it, down from the present 90 per cent.
Among the several amendment items, Secretary for Development Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said only deferral of the law's effective date by a year would be acceptable.
Speaking on a radio programme, the minister rejected criticism that the proposed law would rob people of their property: 'It's a situation of the majority versus the minority, instead of a developer acting against the minority owners,' she said.
If the law failed to pass, it would not be tabled again in the remainder of her term, she added.
Democrat legislator James To Kun-sun said the government should hold off on the measure until a mediation mechanism to settle disputes over acquisition prices - which the government had agreed to explore - was in place.
His party would also propose restricting the measure to industrial blocks, confining affected buildings to those with a repair order, and mandatory mediation between property owners and developers before a compulsory sale was considered.
