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SCMP Reporter

TUNG CHUNG villagers have threatened radical protests to block the new airport project, claiming the impact of blasting at the Chek Lap Kok site has cracked dozens of their houses.

  The signing of the deal was not well-received by the villagers, who are planning court action if the Government refuses to pay compensation or repair the damage.

  Separated by a waterway, Tung Chung is about 350 metres from the new airport construction site.

   The fishing village will be transformed into a new town with a population of more than 200,000 by 2011.

  Foundation works are being carried out for the first eight public rental blocks on the outskirts of Tung Chung. On completion by July 1997, the project is expected to house 4,300 families.

  Tung Chung rural committee chairman Law Kam-fai said: 'Walls and windows cracked because of blasting on Chek Lap Kok. They have been doing it two times a day for a year.

  'At least 40 houses in the area have been affected. Some are collapsing and the owners are so scared that they take refuge at friends' homes during storms or heavy rains.'   Complaints have been lodged with various departments and meetings have been held. But officials insist the cracks were results of natural erosion of the ageing brick-houses built by the villagers on their own.

  Cheung Kwok-kwong, a grocer in Ma Wan Chung, a coastal village closest to the Chek Lap Kok site, said: 'The impact of the blasting is sometimes so great that it shakes plates from the table.'   'I'm not joking - it's like an earthquake.'  Some better-off villagers could hire workers to repair their houses but most of them would just let the cracks develop, Mr Cheung said.

  Another villager, Luk Mui-tsai, 82, added: 'The blasting also cracks windows. Now my windows have been almost sealed by tapes.'   Mr Law said: 'We may resort to radical protests to stop the airport construction if the Government continues to ignore us. We may also consider suing the Government for compensation.'   'We are not greedy people. We just want to be treated fairly.'   Mr Law said he was planning an urgent meeting with villagers later this month to decide further action.

  A government spokesman dismissed the villagers' claims, citing earlier surveys which she said showed cracks had been found on the walls before blasting began.



Villagers threaten protests