Fanling North and Kwu Tung North development plan is ‘killing family farms’ in Hong Kong, affected residents say

Officials have offered 18 relocation sites that are all ‘either too far away, too small or on hills with a wild boar threat’

Full-time farmers need to live near their produce to make living, says Yuen Yat-tien of Mapopo Community Farm

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A farmer in Kwu Tung North. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 7:00am, 22 Jan 2019Updated: 8:35am, 22 Jan 2019

A plan to develop two new towns in northern Hong Kong is killing family farming by not providing adequate relocation sites, affected residents said on Monday.

The outcry came after the government announced last week it would push ahead with the decade-old Fanling North and Kwu Tung North development plan, expected to displace 445 households – including many families living in squatter homes – by the second half of this year.

Despite an enhanced compensation policy, 30 families in Ma Shi Po village in Fanling said the government had not offered a suitable relocation plan. The village will be affected by the first phase of the development.

Yuen Yat-tien, a member of the Mapopo Community Farm and representative of the 30 families, said officials had offered 18 relocation sites, all of which were either too far away, too small or on hills with a wild boar threat.

Clashes between villagers and security guards during a clearance operation at Ma Shi Po village in Fanling in June 2016. Photo: Felix Wong

Yuen said the government had also rejected a request to build squatter homes on the farmland after relocation, making it impossible for full-time farmers, who need to live near their produce, to make a living.