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Zoe Low

Officials and police officers clearing land for a controversial housing project in Hong Kong’s New Territories were on Wednesday chased off by angry residents refusing eviction from their homes.
Lands Department staff, along with private security personnel and police, had arrived in Wang Chau in the morning, breaking windows at an empty house and attempting to put up barriers at an entrance to a village.
But the residents from three villages in the Yuen Long area – Wing Ning Tsuen, Fung Chi Tsuen and Yeung Uk San Tsuen – set up roadblocks of their own, allowing in only locals.
They vowed to stay put after the government ignored their appeal to delay an eviction order amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“The dates given by the government mean nothing to us, for the past five years we have been living without hope,” said Chan Siu-hing, a resident from Fung Chi Tsuen.

“The next few years, we will have to rebuild our homes, but the government has not helped us one bit. Instead, it has prioritised expensive development projects and developers’ interests.”
Chan, along with more than 50 other households, said he had vowed to stay put until the government was willing to offer equal compensation in the form of alternative village land, so they could maintain their current way of life.
The Wang Chau development plan to build 4,000 public housing flats on a 5.6-hectare green belt site has drawn heavy criticism after it was revealed officials shelved original plans to develop a nearby brownfield site. The change came after informal discussions with rural strongmen.
Lawmakers question unusual drop in development cost of Wang Chau project
The 33-hectare brownfield site, which refers to deserted agricultural or rural land used for activities such as open storage, would have yielded 13,000 public flats.
In March this year, the Legislative Council approved HK$1.8 billion in funding for the project even as lawmakers questioned the unusual cut from the original HK$2.39 billion. The estimated cost is for site formation and infrastructure works for the first phase of the project in Yuen Long. Completion is expected in 2025-26, to serve a population of 12,300.

Villagers have been resisting evacuation orders since 2016, and demolition of the sites has been delayed several times over their refusal to move.
Since then, more than 130 households out of a total 258 affected families have either accepted public housing or financial compensation from the government and moved away. Twelve other applications were currently being processed, the Lands Department said.
Meanwhile, 31 other households have applied for financial compensation. Another 85 have been deemed ineligible for public housing either because they already own land or public housing, 18 of which have already moved away. A remaining group of 15 are in the process of applying for agricultural relocation.
I don’t understand why they want to demolish this place. It is a green belt
Helen Ng , Yueng Uk San Tsuen resident

Yeung Uk San Tsuen resident Helen Ng Hoi-yan on the other hand, is resigned to moving out. “Deep down in my heart I just want to stay here with my whole family, where there is so much more space,” she said. “Now I’m just helpless. I’ve been trying to convince my family that perhaps a new environment will be a good change for us.”
The 30-year-old, born and raised in the village, is one of the few members of her six-person household who is eligible for public housing. However, she would be giving up her 10,000 sq ft home in Wang Chau for a one-person flat in Tin Shui Wai, with just more than 100 sq ft of space.
Meanwhile, she is still unsure where the rest of her family and their two dogs, three cats and garden full of medicinal herbs will go.
“I don’t understand why they want to demolish this place. It is a green belt, there are so many butterflies and fireflies, if they tear it down, they will all disappear,” she added.

The close ties among villagers was another facet of life in Wang Chau that would be lost to development, said Yuen Long district councillor Au Kwok-kuen, who has been helping residents fight for compensation from the government.
“The camaraderie is something that, once lost, cannot be replaced. Elderly residents particularly, often feel out of place when they move to public housing, and end up leaving us too soon,” Au said.
He said if the government hoped that Wang Chau residents would relocate, it should look for similar village land in the New Territories so they could maintain their way of life.
Wang Chau villagers threaten ‘bloody fight’ in the face of eviction
Au also said the development plan would not actually help ease Hong Kong’s housing problem if the government was only going to develop the green belt area.
“There is plenty of land around Wang Chau currently owned by developers and the government could also buy the land from them. They are just too afraid to do it so they pressure the less privileged,” he said.
The Lands Department has not issued a new deadline, and instead said it would continue to advise the remaining villagers to move out, according to a spokesman.
“To meet the needs of the Wang Chau public housing development plan, this round of demolition must be carried out in a timely manner,” the department said in a statement, adding that the government had been “looking after residents” by offering compensation to those who qualified.


Hong Kong villagers vow to resist eviction over controversial Wang Chau public housing plan

Angry villagers in Hong Kong’s New Territories set up roadblocks, refuse to make way for Wang Chau housing project

Hong Kong lawmakers ‘not immune’ from Legislative Council contempt charges as Court of Appeal rules that ‘Long Hair’ Leung Kwok-hung trial should proceed

Lawmakers question unusual drop in development cost of controversial Wang Chau public housing project in Hong Kong

Wang Chau housing saga

Villagers protesting against the eviction from their homes in Wang Chau. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Members of the media at the village in Wang Chau, Yuen Long, where the eviction deadline for villagers is today. 29JUL20 SCMP / K. Y. Cheng

Workers at the village in Wang Chau, Yuen Long, where the eviction deadline for villagers is today. 29JUL20 SCMP / K. Y. Cheng

A general view of "Green Belt” are including Wang Chau (including villages Tai Tseng Wai and Ng Uk Tsuen), Yuen Long Industrial Estate, Nam Sang Wai and Mai Po Nature Reserve from Ah Kai Shan, Yuen Long. 10MAR17 SCMP/Martin Chan

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Residents from three villages in Yuen Long area vow to stay put
The government has ignored appeal to delay an eviction order amid Covid-19



Residents from three villages in the Yuen Long area have vowed to stay put after the government ignored their appeal to delay an eviction order amid the coronavirus pandemic.


Angry villagers in Hong Kong’s New Territories set up roadblocks, refuse to make way for Wang Chau housing project

Residents from three villages in Yuen Long area vow to stay put The government has ignored appeal to delay an eviction order amid Covid-19

Residents from three villages in Yuen Long area vow to stay put

The government has ignored appeal to delay an eviction order amid Covid-19