'Why did officers enter Legco Building?'
House Committee deputy chairman says he only invited police to stand outside building to prevent protesters storming in last Friday
The deputy chairman of the Legislative Council House Committee yesterday questioned why police entered the Legco building last Friday, when a protest against the government's development plan for the northeastern New Territories turned ugly.
Civic Party lawmaker Ronny Tong Ka-wah said: "I only asked the police to stay outside the Legislative Council building to prevent protesters forcing their way into the building. I did not give any consent for the police to enter our building."
His comments came yesterday as lawmakers voiced their opinions over whether Legco should step up security in the wake of Friday's attempt to storm the complex. They were speaking ahead of today's meeting of the Legco Commission in which the issue is due to be discussed. The Legco Secretariat's report on the handling of Friday's protests will be scrutinised at today's meeting of the Legco Commission.
Insurance-constituency lawmaker Chan Kin-por said Legco had to come up with new security measures. "The vulnerabilities of the complex were exposed on Friday," he said.
He suggested that an area reserved for protests, which is about 10 metres from the building, should be moved further away to allow a bigger buffer zone for police officers and security guards to protect the complex.
He also suggested: "Rational and irrational protesters should be separated too."
But IT sector lawmaker Charles Mok said: "It's not just about stepping up security. Problems can't be solved by deploying even 10,000 more police officers."
