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LCQ6: Land survey in the New Territories

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Following is a question by the Hon Lau Ping-cheung and a reply by the Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands, Mr Michael Suen, in the Legislative Council today (May 7):

Question:

It is learnt that, between 1898 and 1904, the Government carried out a systematic land survey in the New Territories and demarcation district plans were drawn up for the land. As such plans were produced at a scale of 16 inches or 32 inches to 1 mile (i.e. 1:3,960 or 1:1,980), they are rather sketchy and incomplete by modern day standards, resulting in unclear land boundaries which have often led to disputes over land titles. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it plans to resurvey the 210 000 old schedule lots in the New Territories based on the current standards; if so, of the commencement date of the survey, and how long it will take to complete the work; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

There are over 210,000 private lots in the New Territories held under the Block Government Leases. These lots are known as old schedule lots. These old schedule lots were surveyed one hundred years ago using graphical survey method for the purpose of recording ownership and related taxation purposes. To re-survey the boundaries of these large number of lots in accordance with the present survey standards will require huge resources and considerable time. According to an estimate by the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors, such a re-survey will cost about $1.9 billion in a time frame of 10 years.

Land boundary disputes among private parties are normally resolved through mutual agreement. If agreement cannot be reached, either party can take the matter to court for a determination. Where the land boundary dispute involves Government land, Government will resolve the matter with the concerned party. Indeed, there is a dedicated team within the Lands Department tasked to deal with complex cases as and when they arise.

Given the Government's current financial stringency, there are no additional resources for undertaking a re-survey of all the old schedule lots. The Lands Department will continue to resolve individual land boundary disputes as and when they arise during the course of its work, such as land resumption for infrastructure projects. In the longer run, if further redeployment of resources are possible or additional resources are made available, the Lands Department will consider undertaking more re-survey of the old schedule lots or out-sourcing some of such work.

End/Wednesday, May 7, 2003

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