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1. Development of border zone 'puts species at risk'

2. Two land plots to be returned after conversions blow

1. Development of border zone 'puts species at risk'
NICK GENTLE, SCMP 8 May 2004

Hong Kong risks losing a significant number of valuable species if development in the restricted area on the border is mishandled, researchers said yesterday.

The warning came with the release of a study that revealed the abundance of plant and animal species, including large mammals, living in the buffer zone.

Conducted by Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden between last June and December, the study focused on selected areas of the northeast New Territories and the Eastern Frontier Closed Area. It identified a number of threatened or rare species in the area's diverse habitats. Many of those habitats only emerged in the 50 or so years since the creation of the restricted area, a 2,800-hectare strip of mainly unsettled land on the Hong Kong side of the border.

Kadoorie Farm executive director Manab Chakraborty said the abundance of species was a pleasant side effect of closing the land near the border.

"This is a frontier that was set up not as an ecological reserve but as a barrier to illegal immigration, and it has developed into a kind of sanctuary for all sorts of plants and animals," Mr Chakraborty said. "One of the big surprises that came out of this study is just how much is living out there - in Hong Kong you would have assumed everything was already gone."

Some of the species identified included four rare ferns, the mountain wolf snake, the Malayan porcupine, the yellow-bellied weasel and the crab-eating mongoose. But with Hong Kong rapidly running out of land, and the cross-border movement of people and goods undergoing rapid liberalisation, Mr Chakraborty and his colleagues fear the area will be spoiled by unchecked development.

"The government has said it would look at all points of view regarding use [of the restricted area], but it seems that while it has looked at transport linkages, logistics and residential and other forms of development, it has left out two other important angles - environmental and social uses.

"The purpose of the report is to highlight the situation," Mr Chakraborty said. "It is up to society to determine whether they want to keep it. We would encourage the government to look carefully at what is there."

Mr Chakraborty said that while development of the area was probably inevitable, Kadoorie Farm advocated a thorough ecological assessment to minimise the impact on species in the area.

The report made a number of recommendations, including the establishment of a country park around Lin Ma Hang, San Kwai Tin and Robin's Nest; the declaration of the Lin Ma Hang stream and seagrass and mangrove communities as sites of special scientific interest; and protection for the feng shui woods scattered across the area.

Kadoorie Farm ecologist Bosco Chan Pui-lok said he hoped the government would heed the study's recommendations.

"We have to have faith in our government and try to provide it with the best information we can before it makes a decision," Dr Chan said. "Hopefully they will at least reference our results."

A spokesman for the Environment, Transport and Works Bureau said the government would take the report's findings on board.

"The government will study the report and examine the findings carefully when deciding on the planning of the area," he said.

2. Two land plots to be returned after conversions blow
Staff reporter, The Standard 8 May 2004

Hon Kwok Land, an unprofitable small developer, will return to the government two plots of land left idle for about a decade after its plans to convert them for residential or industrial development were rejected.

The plots, both in Tuen Mun, were among three sites bought between 1995 and 1996 for a total of HK$57.91 million. They can be developed only into godowns or offices, according to Hon Kwok's annual report.

``We see no future in building warehouses in Hong Kong, so we applied for conversion to residential or industrial use no fewer than three times since 1998, but they were all rejected,'' deputy general manager Kenneth Yuen said yesterday.

Developers who breach the building covenant, including delaying construction, are fined and some have paid as much as HK$5 million for a single site, market sources said.

It is understood that the fine, based on a percentage of the site's value starting at 2 per cent, increases for every year. Developers usually have three to four years to complete construction or the fine will be imposed.

Owing to the oversupply of flats over the past few years, plans to redevelop industrial land into residential projects were not approved even though developers were willing to pay a premium.

Hon Kwok did not want to pay the fine and sold one site to a local manufacturer at the end of last year at a discount of 90 per cent, Yuen said.

The three plots in Tuen Mun measure 19,785 sq ft, 22,906 sq ft and 31,421 sq ft. Hon Kwok owns a 55 per cent interest in each, the annual report shows.