Sticky issue: pavements in Mong Kok district of Hong Kong not glued down three months after rioters tore up bricks
But the government has sealed up area outside the Legco complex
The government has not used glue to reinforce pavements in Mong Kok in the wake of a riot there three months ago in which protesters dug up 2,000 bricks.
This method of strengthening pavements was highlighted on Friday when workers applied glue to seal joints between bricks opposite the Legislative Council complex – a move widely interpreted as a security measure ahead of a visit by state leader Zhang Dejiang later this month.
The Highways Department said although it had not used glue in Mong Kok, it had strengthened footpaths in “many locations of various districts in Hong Kong” by using glue to seal joints or laying cement sand as a bedding material.
The reasons for doing so, it explained, included underground soil movement, frequent illegal parking on footpaths, cleaning by high-pressure water jets, and growth of grasses and moss.
“For locations with assembly of people, the paving blocks may [be] subject[ed] to risk of vandalism”, the department wrote, although it did not refer to specific areas.
Footpaths were also glued in Wan Chai in 2005 when Hong Kong hosted the World Trade Organisation Summit. The aim was to stop protesters, mainly South Korean farmers, from digging up bricks to throw at police.