The government could significantly speed up the crackdown on illegal structures on village houses in the New Territories by cutting red tape and improving communications among departments, a person familiar with the situation said.
The government's admission on Monday that it would take more than a decade to clear dangerous illegal structures in rural areas has made it an object of ridicule and raised doubts about its determination to fight unlawful building. One reason given for the long delay is that the Buildings Department must first carry out an extensive survey of high-risk illegal structures in rural areas.
But that information has already been recorded by the Ratings and Valuation Department, which revises the rateable value and government rent of village houses every year.
Tanya Chan, a lawyer and Civic Party lawmaker, said: 'It is ridiculous to start from zero again when relevant data is already available.'
The government could save a lot of time and money if the Buildings Department tapped into the Ratings and Valuation Department's data bank, the source said. Instead, the Development Bureau - which overseas the Buildings Department - is to appoint a consultant to do the survey in the first quarter of next year.
That is only a few months before the outgoing government's tenure ends on June 30. So enforcement against these infringements would be left to the next administration. That would be a political embarrassment for the government and a victory for the powerful rural authority, Heung Yee Kuk, which has been egging on villagers to use delaying tactics against the government.
'The survey can be done more efficiently if the departments are willing to share data with each other,' lawmaker Lee Wing-tat of the Democratic Party said. 'At least that will give the Buildings Department a rough estimate of where the problems are.'