Govt wise to resolve land issues through political compromise
The wholesale acceptance of the recommendations of the Task Force on Land Supply has shown that the government is not biased against political compromise as many opposition politicians have suggested.
To be sure, the creation of land to solve the chronic housing shortage problem has remained the priority of the government. But it is widely seen to be following the advice of the task force to steer clear of the most controversial proposals that stirred a storm of controversy and sharply divided public opinion in the past.
Indeed, the recommendations of the task force are a lesson in the political art of compromise that should be taken to heart by the opposition leaders. The focus of its recommendations shows that the task force has fully taken into account public opinions that they spent many months last year soliciting.
For instance, the highly contentious proposal to develop the fringes of the various country parks that are a widely cherished heritage has been dropped. The call for abolishing the controversial New Territories Small House Policy that entitles indigenous male inhabitants the right to build a house on free land has been largely ignored.
Last year, the government dropped a bombshell by proposing to create a gigantic man-made island for housing, igniting strong protests from environmentalists and many people who have expressed grave concern about the impact such an ambitious project would make not only on the environment but also to the livelihoods of millions of people living in the vicinity.
The task force only made passing mention of the proposal noting that it is a long-term project that would take years to be built in many different stages. It may be the ultimate project to resolve the housing shortage problem. But it is an issue that doesn’t need to be brought up for debate anytime soon.
What’s more, earlier proposals to reclaim land from the sea near a number of densely populated districts have been put on hold.
There is no urgency at this time to address the concerns of the many residents in those areas who are worried about the additional strain on public transport, healthcare facilities and other social resources by the influx of many thousands of new tenants.
The recommendation by the task force of developing a small portion of the land granted to Hong Kong’s largest golf club in the New Territories is an obvious compromise to placate the powerful members of the club and pacify the populist movement mounted by social activists.
Instead, the government has taken the task force’s advice to focus on the redevelopment of the so-called “brownfields” which are large tracks of land in the New Territories occupied by tenants engaging in dirty, or highly polluting, industries and activities that require large land areas and remote locations away from the urban districts. These include auto scrap yards, waste disposal facilities and container storage.
These activities have been blamed for years for marring the rural landscape and polluting the countryside. The vast majority of the public would like to see these tenants of the brownfields evicted. But the question is to where?
That’s the question the government will have to address before it can go ahead with the plan to redevelop the brownfields into housing estates. Another problem is to negotiate with the owners of these lands, some of them large developers, on terms in order to build on their properties. Such considerations have led to the proposal of joint development in the New Territories with the developers who own these lands.
Critics said they were worried that such joint venture development projects would be tantamount to subsidizing the developers with public fund. The government disagreed saying open and transparent negotiations would ensure a fair deal for everyone.
The government’s priority on land creation has won widespread public support other than the lame criticisms by opposition leaders, at least for now. Of course, the government is expected to face huge challenges in implementing some of the task force’s recommendations. For instance, relocating the industries occupying the brownfields can be a real challenge as some of them are not suitable to operate in multi-story premises.
But a compromised solution to the problem as complicated as land creation in politically charged Hong Kong is the only one that can work.
The author is a veteran current affairs commentator.