Alice Tai says she does not have the power to stop demolition
The ombudsman yesterday said she had no plans to investigate the Hunghom Peninsula development - pointing out it was largely beyond her jurisdiction - and admitted that even if she could, she had no powers to stop its demolition.
Alice Tai Yuen-ying told lawmakers an investigation by her office into the sale to developers of the never-occupied harbourfront flats, which they intend to demolish and replace with more profitable luxury flats, would raise more questions than answers.
She also said there were insufficient grounds at present for ombudsman's investigations into the West Kowloon cultural district or the privatisation of Housing Authority shopping centres and parking spaces through the Link real estate investment trust (reit).
The law bars the ombudsman from investigating government land grants and commercial transactions. Ms Tai said her office would be making recommendations on whether to expand the ombudsman's jurisdiction following a review next year.
The ombudsman said she had been monitoring developments concerning the Hunghom Peninsula and the Link listing but 'it is not a straightforward situation where the ombudsman has clear jurisdiction to investigate'.
Her office also needed a concrete complaint before it could intervene on the West Kowloon cultural district project, she said.
Democratic Party legislator Martin Lee Chu-ming supported amending the law to allow the ombudsman to investigate land grants. 'It seems that a few property developers always benefit from government mistakes. The ombudsman should investigate this outrageous phenomenon,' he said.
Fellow pro-democracy legislator Albert Cheng King-hon said the ombudsman should intervene in the Link reit. He was adamant the privatisation had been undervalued and institutional investors given too big a slice of the offering.
In an open letter to Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands Michael Suen Ming-yeung, the Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong warned its legislators would vote for a Legislative Council select committee inquiry into the handling of the harbourfront estate unless the government came clean about its deal with the developers.
The government, in a letter to Hunghom Peninsula's owners, a consortium of Sun Hung Kai Properties and New World, reiterated they should not assume the government would rubber-stamp their redevelopment. It urged the developers to respond positively to community concerns about their plans.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tK%2FMqWWcp51krrPAyJyjnmdkbX5zhJdon66ml528rnnCmqqeZZKaxrC6w2aksmWimrqqwIysmLKrXaS6o8HDrKSapg%3D%3D