Development chief vows to help vital Hong Kong factories relocate away from future housing sites
- Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn says authorities to improve compensation process for economically beneficial operators located on brownfield sites
- Decision follows complaint from major ice manufacturer over transfer of company site to make way for construction of public housing flats
Factories uprooted by new town developments in Hong Kong will be offered greater government assistance with relocation if the companies are beneficial to the economy, the development chief has vowed, after a major ice manufacturer complained it would be displaced in three years.
Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho on Wednesday said the government had been improving the process of arranging compensation for operators located on brownfield sites and her bureau would strengthen interdepartmental efforts in the future.
“We may need to be more proactive in finding individual brownfield sites users who are deemed to be more important to Hong Kong’s economy,” she said. “We may have to put in more effort.”
Brownfield sites refer mainly to agricultural land in the New Territories now occupied by warehouses for industrial, storage, logistics or parking use. Several factories have warned recently they will be forced to close as the sites will be turned over for new town developments.
The latest case involves the 50,000 sq ft site of the 41-year-old Turbo Ice company in Lam Tei, an area due to be acquired in 2025 for a nearby construction project to create 21,600 public housing flats. Earlier this week, the operator told the media about his difficulties in securing a new location and urged the government to help it find one.
The ice manufacturer said it supplied food-grade ice for 40 per cent of the city’s restaurants, but with the looming transfer of the land, its future was uncertain.
“I feel helpless,” company executive director Chan Hin-hang said. “Ice is a public necessity and the government cannot offer a ‘one-for-one replacement’. We have been serving the public, and the government blots out our efforts. The worst case scenario is to shut down the factory.”
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