The controversy over illegal structures is gathering pace. The case of Michael Suen Ming-yeung, the secretary for education, is especially surprising, given his long career in government.
In 2006, the government had a blitz on illegal building structures, issuing a large number of notices to owners asking them to rectify matters. Among them was a notice from the Buildings Department to Suen, telling him to remove an illegal structure from the ground floor of his home. His ministerial portfolio then included overseeing buildings.
Suen did nothing for five years; ignoring the notice until recently, when the media reported on it. When he was first asked about it, he merely said he should have been more attentive in dealing with what he described as 'small areas' of illegal structural work. He also sought to excuse himself by saying the structure was already there in 1994 when he bought the property. He did not immediately apologise for his inexcusable lapse; it took him two days to finally say sorry. Unsurprisingly, calls for his resignation started to circulate.
Besides Suen, a number of other politicians also suffered similar embarrassment. More recently, questions were raised over whether Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen also made illegal alternations to a property he owns.
Tsang said he had acquired the property in 1998. In 2006, the Buildings Department issued a removal order for two sets of structures, which were taken down within the 20-day deadline. The controversy was over a glassed-in balcony apparently not mentioned in the order. Tsang has since agreed to remove the structure.
Earlier, in responding to calls for Suen's resignation, Tsang showed sympathy for his colleague and emphasised that Suen had already made a solemn apology and had started to remove the structure. Tsang took the opportunity to further warn officials that they should check whether they had illegal structures at home.
