Request to ombudsman over parks

HONGKONG'S ombudsman, Mr Arthur Garcia, will be asked to investigate whether there was ''maladministration and misapplication'' in the approval of two developments affecting country parks.

The request was made yesterday by conservation group Friends of the Earth to the Legislative Council complaints division which will pass on the concerns to Mr Garcia, whose official title is Commissioner for Administrative Complaints.

The complaint is aimed at the Agriculture and Fisheries Department and the Country Parks Authority and refers to the approval given to a golf and housing complex at Shalotung in Pat Sin Leng Country Park and a landfill in Clearwater Bay Country Park.

The Country Parks Authority is the Director of Agriculture and Fisheries, Dr Lawrence Lee Hay-yue, who acts on the advice of the Country Parks Board.

Friends of the Earth's assistant director, Mr Henry Morritt, said the complaint was intended to clarify procedures under which development was allowed in country parks and hopefully open them up more to the public.

''We are seeking an investigation into what procedures are followed and explanations of why one definite illegal approval was made and whether there were possibly others,'' Mr Morritt said.

The illegal approval was at Shalotung, which last year was the subject of a judicial review brought by green groups.

The High Court found the AFD wrongly approved the proposal under section 10 of the ordinance, which refers to development in proposed country parks and not existing ones.

The Government has refused to say what section was used to approve the Clearwater Bay landfill or how many projects have been allowed under section 10.

The group's complaint said the Country Parks Authority's responsibility was to manage the parks for recreation and public enjoyment, and it failed to see how a landfill fits this description.

The golf course and landfill were both approved behind closed doors with little public consultation and there was no requirement to explain the decisions.

The Shalotung Development Company revised its initial plan so it would require only private and Crown land adjacent to the country park.

It has submitted working papers to the Government on an environmental impact study into the new proposal.

A final report is expected within the next couple of months and probably will go to the Environmental Pollution Advisory Committee, according to Mr Bill Farrell of the Environmental Protection Department, who is chairing a Government working group looking into the project.