Third Hong Kong government adviser calls for U-turn over building public flats on golf course, warns against framing debate as rich vs poor
- Executive Council member Ronny Tong joins convenor Regina Ip and fellow Jeffrey Lam in urging city to reconsider building flats on section of Fanling golf course
- Sports minister Kevin Yeung, meanwhile, says authorities will lend section of course set aside for housing plan to event organisers in October and November
A third member of Hong Kong’s key political decision-making body has weighed into discussions over using part of the city’s oldest golf course to build public housing and warned against framing the matter as a struggle between the rich and poor.
Executive Council member Ronny Tong Ka-wah on Thursday followed the group’s convenor Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee and fellow Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung in urging authorities to reconsider building flats on land to be taken back from the Hong Kong Golf Club.
Tong and Lam are club members, while Ip is a retired member.
He also warned in a commentary for a local newspaper that framing the discussions as a clash between socio-economic classes could serve a political agenda to divide Hong Kong’s society, urging the government to be wary of such talk.
He argued that the plan to build on 32 hectares which will return to government hands in September, was proposed by the previous administration under Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor amid “fears of populist sentiments” stoked by the pro-democracy camp.
