Farmers evicted under new town project can continue livelihood on allocated public land but not build homes, Hong Kong officials say
- Policy draws complaints from affected families, with development authorities accused of being insincere about helping them maintain their lifestyle
Farmers and their families who get evicted under a new town project will be allowed to continue their livelihoods elsewhere on designated plots but will not be able to live there, Hong Kong’s development officials said on Tuesday.
This was despite mounting calls to allow such residents, who live in squatter homes and tend crops daily, to keep their existing lifestyle.
“The government has no such relocation policy allowing farmers to live and toil in the same place ... Because land is scarce,” Permanent Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho said.
The comments were made during a meeting of the Legislative Council’s development panel, where officials were unable give a timeline for the proposed rail link connecting two planned new towns in the northeastern New Territories to the city centre.
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.
At least 30 farming households facing eviction have discussed relocation plans with the authorities. On Monday they complained to the media that they were offered only 18 sites, which were too remote, small and on hill slopes, and they would not be allowed to build residential huts on the sites.
This led to several pan-democratic lawmakers questioning development officials on the matter.