unauthorised structure
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Following is a statement jointly issued by the Housing Department and Lands Department:-
Statutory notices have been served to the owner of a Yuen Long land lot to demolish an unauthorised structure before November 10 this year.
"If the lot owner fails to demolish the structure by the date as stipulated in the statutory notices, joint operation will be taken by the Housing Department and the Lands Department to remove the structure," a government spokesman said today (October 27).
He was speaking in response to the findings of an Ombudsman investigation into a complaint against the Housing Department, Lands Department and Planning Department for the way they handled the case of an unauthorised structure.
"Since the owner has withdrawn his application to the Town Planning Board for change of land use, and Lands Department has issued statutory notice for demolition of the structure, the Housing Department and Lands Department have agreed on a detailed action plan to take enforcement action against the structure," the spokesman said.
"We accept The Ombudsman's recommendations that the two departments (with Planning Department as necessary) should actively deliberate and take measures to speed up action against unauthorised structures in future," he added.
Since mid-2005, regular meetings at various levels of the two departments have been set up to monitor progress of problematic cases/joint enforcement operations and resolve operational problems.
Ends/Thursday, October 27, 2005
Issued at HKT 18:58
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