Swamped New Territories villages welcome all inspectors

Like most residents of the New Territories, I welcome the government's initiative to set up a new department to investigate what has become known in the media as unauthorised structures. New Territories residents know this to be a euphemism for "essential home improvements".

In the hope that Hong Kong taxpayers receive maximum value from the reported HK$40 million budget, I respectfully suggest that the inspectors add one or two further items to their, no doubt, very narrow brief.

If the inspectors visit by public transport, as indeed they should, and given that there is no available parking in NT villages, they should allow an extra hour at least to complete their journey.

This is because the green minibuses that serve NT villages are already unable to cope with the increased demand that the rise in village house construction has brought, and which the government has perpetrated by dishing out countless thousands of building permits.

Should the inspectors arrive on a rainy day, they should wear wellingtons, as most village roads do not have surface-water drainage. Residents, as the inspectors will discover, get wet feet when walking to the minibus stop every time it rains.

Some form of smelling salts or other sweet-scented product would be helpful to offset the stench of the rat-infested open sewers that run through almost all villages. The wellingtons would be of additional use should an inspector happen to inadvertently fall into one of these open sewers.