Pressure is mounting on the government to reveal the full scope and extent of payouts it made to compensate for fung shui disruption caused by public works projects.
Lawmakers yesterday agreed to put the century-old fung shui compensation system under the microscope by putting it at the top of the agenda for a meeting of the Legislative Council's development panel.
Legislators also promised to investigate the legitimacy of a plan by New Territories village chief Tsang Hin-keung to build a so-called 'fung shui bridge' and to ask the police to give protection to Kap Lung villagers who oppose the move.
The South China Morning Post uncovered figures showing that, at the very least, HK$72 million was spent on such payments in recent years. The figure may well be the tip of the iceberg.
Also yesterday, a former lands official told RTHK that there were misuses of fung shui compensation and a former secretary for home affairs criticised the system.
Their remarks came a day after Secretary for Development Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor told Legco fung shui was not the government's consideration when assessing compensation.
On RTHK's Backchat programme, former assistant director of lands Roger Nissim, now adjunct professor in Hong Kong University's department of real estate and construction, described Lam's attitude as 'slightly ostrich-like'.
