Briefs | Pearl Horizon buyers’ compensation rejected

The Administrative Court has rejected the compensation requests of 349 buyers (from 60 cases) of the former Pearl Horizon project. The group was seeking compensation from the government following its reclamation of the Pearl Horizon land plot. The court pointed out that the contract made with the developer does not extend to any third party. Therefore, even if the allegations against the government are true, the government will have only committed wrongdoing toward Polytec group, which is different from the government’s obligation to compensate buyers. In 2019, the administrative court received 66 cases (370 people) asking the government for a compensation. Four of these cases were withdrawn.

41 unlawful constructions voluntarily demolished

In the first half of this year, the Housing Bureau recorded 41 cases of local residents who voluntarily demolished their illegal self-built constructions, which were mostly on balconies. In addition to the statistics for the first six months, three new cases have been recently recorded involving three low buildings and six balconies. In order to encourage local residents to voluntarily demolish self-built illegal constructions, the local government has launched a subsidy program to help owners, covering part of the demolishing costs.

Illegal workers believed connected to organized crime

Lawmaker Lei Chan U believes that the illegal workers situation has already demonstrated a tendency to turn into organized crime. In his written inquiry to the government, Lei mentioned cases of large-scale sub-concessioners of construction projects forging documents to hire illegal workers. Because of this, Lei believes that illegal worker issues are gradually developing into questions of organized crime. Lei asked whether the local government will include in the management regulations for construction sites and projects, which are currently being drafted, measures to prevent these circumstances from happening. Moreover, Lei asked if the government will amend the regulations due to the occurrence of illegal construction worker cases.