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Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, on the designation of country parks after attending the Legislative Council meeting today (November 13):
Reporter: ... pro-government parties because they worried that your plan may infringe private land rights?
Secretary for the Environment: As I said earlier, the designation of country parks with regard to those enclaves would not affect their property rights. There are about 450 hectares of private land included in the country parks in the past. Take Sai Wan as the current case, the existing use is mainly farmland and also land for small houses. Those existing usages are respected and protected, and even in future, if they are going to apply for more small houses, it is permissible. The AFCD (Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department) has published a guideline to facilitate them to apply for small houses in future. So, in conclusion, their rights are respected and protected. But the Government would like to invest more resources to develop the areas into eco-tourism, so that not only the public at large can better enjoy the environment, but also the local people can share the benefit in future.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Issued at HKT 15:00
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