Farmers rally against plan to develop their land for housing

When the architects of the new government offices in Admiralty boasted that the arch-like design represented a "perennially open door", they probably didn't envisage it as an invitation to thousands of protesters.

After Saturday's mass demonstration by people opposed to the introduction of national education lessons, it was the turn of angry farmers yesterday.

Organisers said 3,000 people from rural villages in the northern New Territories and their supporters expressed their outrage at a government plan to develop tracts of their land for apartment blocks and shopping centres. Police put the figure at 700.

The demonstrators created a carnival atmosphere, having brought with them plenty of their produce - melons, pineapples and corn - to share around.

The villagers are upset that three zones - Fanling North, Kwu Tung North and Ping Che - will be stripped of their agricultural land and cultural traditions.

"I'm 65 now. Is [Chief Executive] Leung Chun-ying telling me to move out and rent a flat in the urban area?" asked one protester, who gave her name as Mrs Cheng. "How could I afford it?"

Cheng used to be a farmer until a year ago, when her landlord terminated her decades-old lease in Ping Che village.