Dozens of villagers from a border town in Hong Kong marched to government headquarters on Sunday, demanding better terms under a resettlement plan aimed at freeing up land for the Northern Metropolis mega redevelopment.
The villagers from the Hung Shui Kiu area set out from the United Centre in Admiralty at around 11am for the Legislative Council building at Tamar. According to an earlier statement, some were angry they did not qualify for compensation as they had been unwittingly renting illegal structures for the past 35 years.
They said the government had ordered them to vacate their homes by December 6 as part of the zoning plan for Hung Shui Kiu and Ha Tsuen.
“I feel the government went against its own words,” said 51-year-old villager Pan Jing. “They should be more understanding about how hard it can be for us to get documents from a long time ago.”
Pang, who works in the service industry and has lived in Yick Yuen Tsuen village since 2011, said she signed a contract with the Lands Department in May to confirm she was qualified to relocate to public housing and that her son could get a separate flat as well.
But two months later she was asked to provide proof she had been living at her address since at least 2016, Pang said. She had to visit hospitals, schools and social welfare departments several times in a bid to find the right documents, which was especially difficult as she was recovering from an operation, she added.