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Following is a question by the Hon Lau Wong-fat and a written reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Dr Patrick Ho, in the Legislative Council today (December 13):
Question:
Will the Government inform this Council of the titles of the District Minor Works/Rural Public Works projects which have commenced or are scheduled to commence in the current financial year in each of the 18 districts in Hong Kong, the number of such projects which involve land resumption and the justifications used, as well as the respective numbers of projects for which the consent of the land owners concerned cannot be obtained or has been withdrawn?
Reply:
Madam President,
The Home Affairs Department carries out district minor works under the Rural Public Works (RPW) Programme and the Urban Minor Works (UMW) Programme. Under the 2006-07 programme, the titles of the projects that have commenced or are scheduled to commence in this financial year are set out by district at the Annex. The Government has launched these two minor works programmes in order to meet the needs of the local community by improving the local environment and resolving related issues more quickly and flexibly. Land resumption is inconsistent with the purposes of these two minor works programmes as it involves complicated statutory procedures which will substantially extend the time required for carrying out the projects. As such, no project under these two programmes will involve land resumption.
At the moment, none of the projects on the list attached has been unable to be carried out because of failure to obtain the consent of the land owners concerned or withdrawal of their consent. As some projects are still at the planning stage, we cannot rule out that some of the RPW projects may involve private land. In such cases, we shall try our best to persuade the land owners concerned to allow works to be carried out on their land. In cases where the consent of land owners cannot be obtained, we shall amend the project scopes as far as possible to facilitate the smooth implementation of the projects.
Ends/Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Issued at HKT 11:43
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