Landowners built illegal private garden in Hong Kong – and for 20 years the government did nothing
Watchdog slams ‘appalling delay’ but authorities point out there are 200,000 reports to handle per year
The Lands Department contributed to “appalling and unacceptable” delays in a case that stretched more than 20 years over illegal use of public land by landowners in the New Territories, Hong Kong’s Ombudsman said on Tuesday.
For more than two decades, an illegally built “private garden” complex and village house was expanded. Land officials were aware of this but had failed to act until 2014, the watchdog found.
The saga began in 1995 with a New Territories Exempted House which had exceeded height restrictions with additional structures, and also encroached on government land. The exact location of the case was not disclosed.
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The house and private agricultural land it was built on was also immediately sold, despite conditions stipulating self-use.
“As the largest landholder and manager in Hong Kong, the enforcement delay is ... appalling and unacceptable,” Ombudsman Connie Lau Yin-hing said, adding that the details uncovered might just be “the tip of the iceberg”.
They abetted the owner to continue building and take up large swathes of government land
Between 1995 and 1996, the District Lands Office’s demands for rectification of the site were ignored.
