Hong Kong to push ahead with controversial decade-old plan to build two new towns of Fanling North and Kwu Tung North
- Villagers who will be displaced by Fanling North and Kwu Tung North projects vehemently oppose
- Development Bureau officials say they expect less resistance than before, because of more generous compensation package
Hong Kong’s development authority is pushing ahead with a decade-old plan to ease the city’s housing crisis by building two new towns in the north, and is seeking funding this year for the first phase, which will cost HK$47 billion (US$6 billion).
While villagers who will be displaced by the Fanling North and Kwu Tung North projects have vehemently opposed the plan, officials from the Development Bureau on Wednesday said they were expecting less resistance than before, as a more generous compensation package introduced last year had drawn a “good” response.
This will mark the first major step by the government to follow up on the recommendations of the land supply task force, which released its strategic report last month calling on officials to speed up new town developments, among other measures.
The biggest obstacle so far has been strong resistance by hundreds of villagers unwilling to give up their rural homes and lifestyles to be relocated in high-rise public housing flats.
“Now the task force has stated the need to speed up this project, we call on society and lawmakers not to ask again why we need to build new towns, and what we should do about compensation,” a bureau spokeswoman said. “It’s time to talk about how to implement the projects.”