Hong Kong villagers evicted early ahead of massive commercial and housing development
Homes are due to make way for huge development - but not until at least 2020
About 30 households living in squatter homes in a Yuen Long village are set to be the first displaced to make way for an ambitious plan for a new commercial hub in the northwestern New Territories.
Some say they have been told to move out by Monday – despite the fact the mammoth government project will not begin to take shape for at least five years.
Under a proposal by the Planning Department and Civil Engineering and Development Department, a 714-hectare site in Hung Shui Kiu would be transformed to provide 1.9 million square metres of office, retail and hotel space, along with 60,100 new flats.
The plan is subject to a third and final round of consultation, which runs until September 16, and land formation work is not due to begin until 2020.
But residents of Tin Sam San Tsuen, which will make way for the work, say they have already received notice from their landlord to leave or switch to monthly rental contracts that would allow for their rapid eviction, according to activist Chan Kim-ching. His group Liber Research Community has received calls for help from residents.
More than 20 attended a village meeting last night, with some saying they had been told to leave by Monday next week. They want the government to help them find a place to settle.
“Asking us to move is not a problem. Seeking possession is not a problem. But, there must be a place for us to settle,” said Chui Ming-pong, 40, who works in transportation and has lived in the village for five years.
“We just want a home. I have been paying rent on time every month. I don’t have any plans now.”
Luo Xuehua, 38, a housewife who came from Guangdong to Hong Kong about four years ago, lives in one of the temporary houses in the village with her two-year-old son. She said a “manager” of the squatter area had come a few days ago and told her to leave in less than two months.
“I don’t know who that young lady is, actually, but she has been managing our area and collecting rent from us. … This is not my place, so what can I do? I can only look for a new place,” she said.
This is not my place, so what can I do? I can only look for a new place
Chan said the landlord, Honour Jet Development, had already posted eviction notices on some homes. A search of Companies Registry records found the company had an intertwined ownership structure that involved six other businesses.
The houses are considered squatter homes because they are temporary structures erected illegally on public or private land. The owners could still receive compensation if the homes are cleared for a government project.
The case of the village reflects a difference in the treatment of villages dating to before and after the New Territories became part of colonial Hong Kong in 1898. Tin Sam San Tsuen is one of five newer villages that will be bulldozed. But 17 villages where residents can trace their ancestry to before 1898 will be preserved.
The two departments will hold a forum on Saturday on the development plan, which is set to see the population of the area rise from 42,000 to 215,000.
Additional reporting by Allen Au-yeung
