Illegal land occupation at Hac Sa village uncovered

A situation involving illegal engineering work and illegal occupation of state land has been put under the spotlight, with the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) being accused of not taking the initiative to conduct inspections over cases of illegal land occupation.

Lawmakers Ella Lei and Leong Sun Iok organized a press conference at the Hac Sa village to report a case of illegal land occupation and illegal engineering work. According to their report, the land is near the Tai Wong Temple.

During the press conference, the lawmakers pointed out the related lands to the media.

On the site, large areas of land are clearly occupied with construction materials and machines. An area which was covered with trees back in 2008, near the Hac Sa beach, has also been occupied with construction materials. A batch of bottles thought to contain construction materials can also be seen on the site.

Some new roadwork was also spotted on the land in front of the Tai Wong Temple.

Lawmaker Lei Cheng I said they were unaware of the exact amount of land involved. She blames the DSSOPT for not having taken the initiative to understand the problem.

“I think the DSSOPT did not take the initiative to follow on this case. [Regarding] this one, the DSSOPT should have carried it out [inspection]. However, according to what we have learnt, residents who filed complaints [about the case] should have filed complaints to the DSSOPT as well,” said Lei. “If the media has made the reveal [of the case], how come the engineering work still continued?” she added.

Apart from the illegal land occupation, the neighboring community is also worried about whether some of the engineering materials contain chemicals or dangerous substances.

On Wednesday night, the DSSOPT issued a statement reporting that the department went to the related site to collect information and evidence.

The department claimed to “have been combatting for a long time illegal engineering works and illegal land occupation” at the Hác Sá village.

According to the DSSOPT, the bureau had previously noted that the land was occupied with construction machines, containers, and engineering debris. However, at the beginning of this year, an unlicensed project was found to be under development and the illegally occupied land was expanded.  The illegal construction  involved the landfilling of a lake nearby.

DSSOPT claimed that it will require the related parties to recover the land’s original status.

Lawmaker Ella Lei suggested the DSSOPT “issue a legal order” and take other measures to stop these illegal activities in the future.