About 100 people protest in Hong Kong over plan to use Fo Tan public housing estate as quarantine site

Residents who were supposed to move in after years of waiting lament how they were only informed last minute and had their hopes crushed

District councillor vows to hold another protest over the weekend

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Protesters in Fo Tan holding up slogans against a plan to turn a public estate into a quarantine site. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 6:00pm, 12 Feb 2020Updated: 7:28pm, 12 Feb 2020

A group of about 100 people in Hong Kong launched a protest on Wednesday against a government plan to use a public housing estate in Sha Tin as a quarantine centre amid the coronavirus outbreak, now known as Covid-19.

“Return us the Chun Yeung Estate. Say no to the quarantine centre,” they chanted, as they marched in Fo Tan, Sha Tin.

Most of them were set to move into the new estate next month, but only received an SMS from the Housing Department on Tuesday notifying them of a change in plans.

Chun Yeung Estate in Fo Tan. Photo: Felix Wong

The controversy centred on a U-turn by city leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, who earlier pledged that no new public housing estates would be used for quarantine purposes.

She appealed for understanding to use the Fo Tan site, saying existing quarantine centres were fully occupied and there was a desperate need for more places.

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