Building Department accused of covering up Leung's illegal structure

The Ombudsman has been urged to launch an investigation into the independence of the Buildings Department after it was accused of shielding Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying by covering up an unauthorised extension at one of his Peak houses.

A spokeswoman for the Ombudsman said it had received a letter from the Democratic Party yesterday calling for a probe. She said the watchdog would assess the need for one.

In the letter, Democratic Party member Richard Choi Yiu-cheong urged the Ombudsman to clear up the public's doubts by looking into whether the Buildings Department had protected Leung by withholding information in responding to a media request.

"The department did not disclose the extension in June although Leung had already discovered it in October last year. It is unavoidable that people would speculate whether the department remained silent as a result of political pressure," Choi said.

Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung said in Beijing that the State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office director, Wang Guangya , had told him the central government fully supported the new administration and chief executive.

The accusation against the department was made in some media reports after the department admitted on Tuesday that it had found a suspicious wall that does not match the original building plan in an inspection made upon an Apple Daily request in June; it did not mention the wall in its reply to the newspaper. The paper had asked if the inspectors had discovered a newly built wall and whether they suspected a room was behind it.