The Lands Department (LandsD) today (May 30) posted resumption notices and acquisition notices in accordance with relevant ordinances to resume about 176 hectares of land for the implementation of the Second Phase development of the Hung Shui Kiu/Ha Tsuen New Development Area (HSK/HT NDA).

     Section 4 of the Lands Resumption Ordinance (Chapter 124), section 4 of the Land Acquisition (Possessory Title) Ordinance (Chapter 130), section 14 of the Roads (Works, Use and Compensation) Ordinance (Chapter 370) and section 14 of Chapter 370 as applied by section 26 of the Water Pollution Control (Sewerage) Regulation (Chapter 358, Subsidiary Legislation AL) will be invoked.

     A total of 2 548 private lots with an area of about 176 hectares will be resumed, and the land being occupied by 27 graves and 23 urns with an area of government land of about 1 460 square metres will be acquired. The said land will revert to or vest in the Government upon the expiry of a period of three months from the date of affixing the notices (i.e. August 31, 2024). The Government will release ex-gratia land compensation to the relevant land owners after land reversion.

     The abovementioned land reversion date is the date of vesting of the ownership of the land in the Government. It is not the departure deadline of the affected households and business undertakings. According to the information obtained earlier from the freezing survey, there are a total of 1 693 households and 364 business undertakings within the Second Phase development of the HSK/HT NDA. According to the project schedule, they are scheduled to depart in batches from the fourth quarter of 2024 to the third quarter of 2025. The LandsD sent notification letters to the affected households and business undertakings in November 2022 informing them of the scheduled departure dates and the compensation and rehousing arrangements for their reference and early preparation for departure. The LandsD and its appointed Compensation and Rehousing Service Team will maintain communication with the affected households and business undertakings, and provide updated information as necessary, including the posting of notices three months before the departure deadlines of the affected households and business undertakings in relevant areas in accordance with the applicable procedures.

     The Government is handling the compensation and rehousing matters of the affected persons at full stream, and will endeavour to arrange rehousing for or release compensation to eligible persons before the clearance commences. As of May 29, 2024, the LandsD has engaged all the households who have to depart as the first batch (274 households), amongst them, 85 households are eligible for rehousing or ex-gratia cash compensation, 147 households have their cases being processed or are yet to submit necessary information, and 42 households are not eligible based on available information (the main reasons for ineligibility include households having moved into the development area after the freezing survey, living in unauthorised structures, or owning a domestic property in Hong Kong). The LandsD will continue to contact the affected persons, so as to follow up on their rehousing and compensation matters.

     The HSK/HT NDA is one of the new development area projects in the Northern Metropolis, which will supply land for residential, industrial, commercial and other developments. The construction works for the First Phase development commenced in July 2020. The construction works for the Second Phase development (including site clearance and formation, roads, drainage, sewerage and water supply systems, and river revitalisation works) will commence progressively this year.

     Upon full development, the HSK/HT NDA will provide about 66 700 additional housing units accommodating a new population of about 184 000. In addition, the industrial and commercial land in the NDA will create about 6.4 million sq m of gross floor area, providing about 150 000 employment opportunities.

     The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, today (May 30) chaired the 21st meeting of the Commission on Children.
 
     At the meeting, members were updated by government representatives on the latest developments and the skeleton document of the Mandated Reporter Guide under the mandatory reporting regime for suspected child abuse cases. The Guide is being formulated by the professional consultative panels formed by representatives of the social welfare, education and healthcare sectors based on the case scenarios, questions and views collected from the relevant sectors. It aims to facilitate early identification, reporting and intervention of child abuse cases by mandated reporters to achieve the policy objective of child protection.
 
     In addition, members were briefed by the Child Fatality Review Panel on its sixth report. The report covers child death cases that took place within the period between 2019 and 2021 and reported to the Coroner's Court. It has been uploaded to the website of the Social Welfare Department (www.swd.gov.hk). Members offered views on the recommendations regarding preventive strategies, etc in the report in the hope of preventing avoidable child fatalities.

Attention duty announcers, radio and TV stations:
 
     Please broadcast the following message as soon as possible and repeat it at suitable intervals:
 
     As the Standby Signal No.1 has been issued, the Marine Department reminds vessel owners, masters and persons-in-charge of vessels that they should take precautionary measures immediately and properly secure their vessels at safe locations.
 
     In case of an accident, a report should be made immediately to the Vessel Traffic Centre at 2233 7801.

     In two separate prosecution cases, two public rental housing (PRH) tenants were each sentenced to a 160-hour community service order and were fined $12,000 for refusing or neglecting to declare their domestic property ownership in Hong Kong. A spokesman for the Housing Department (HD) reminded residents of PRH estates to declare truthfully their income and assets today (May 30).

     The two PRH residents, living at Hing Wah (2) Estate and Chai Wan Estate respectively, both declared in their 2022 Income and Assets Declaration Forms that they did not have any domestic property ownership in Hong Kong. Subsequent investigations revealed that the resident living at Hing Wah (2) Estate was a joint owner of a domestic property in Cheung Sha Wan at the material time, while the resident living at Chai Wan Estate solely owned a domestic property in Chai Wan at the material time. Both of them were prosecuted for neglecting to furnish information specified in the declaration form, contrary to Section 27(a) of the Housing Ordinance. They were convicted in the Eastern Magistrates' Courts on May 28. Given the gravity of the offence and making reference to the community service orders suitability report, the two defendants were sentenced to 160 hours' community service order and were fined $12,000. The HD has already recovered the subject PRH flat in Chai Wan Estate and has issued a notice-to-quit to the PRH tenant living at Hing Wah (2) Estate to recover the subject PRH flat.
 
     The spokesman said that households living in PRH should complete their Income and Assets Declaration Forms accurately, as doing so provides the foundation for the assessment of rent and their eligibilities for continuing residence. Before furnishing particulars specified in the requisition required by the Hong Kong Housing Authority, households should read the content and completion guidelines of the Income and Assets Declaration Forms carefully and compute their income and assets in accordance with the methods specified. Otherwise, they may be prosecuted for making a false statement knowingly, contrary to Section 26(1)(a) of the Housing Ordinance (if convicted, the maximum penalty is a $50,000 fine and imprisonment for six months), or be prosecuted for neglecting to furnish information as specified in a declaration form, contrary to Section 27(a) of the Housing Ordinance (if convicted, the maximum penalty is a $25,000 fine and imprisonment for three months). The HD will take action to recover the undercharged rent incurred due to the inaccurate information furnished by the households or even recover their PRH units.

     The spokesman reiterated that the public in general recognises the HD's efforts in combating the abuse of PRH resources. The HD will continue to adopt multi-pronged and risk-based measures to combat tenancy abuse comprehensively. The HD will take decisive tenancy management and law enforcement actions against tenants who are found to have abused PRH and breached the tenancy agreement or relevant policies so as to ensure that the precious PRH resources are allocated to those most in need.

     The Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA) launched today (May 30) the Labelling Scheme for Buildings with 5G Indoor Coverage to encourage mobile network operators (MNOs) to enhance the network coverage of fifth generation (5G) mobile services in indoor areas of buildings, providing the public with more stable and high-speed mobile communications services.
 
     The Labelling Scheme aims to encourage collaboration between MNOs and building managers to install 5G communications facilities and enhance indoor mobile network coverage in the indoor common areas of buildings such as lobbies, lifts, carparks, shopping centres and basements. If a building has already installed 5G indoor base stations, a designated label (see Annex) can be posted at relevant locations as a certification of 5G network coverage, indicating that users can enjoy the advantages of high speed, low latency and massive capacity of 5G services in these indoor areas. At present, the four MNOs have registered over 600 buildings including residential, commercial and industrial buildings with OFCA. OFCA will regularly update the Databases for Broadcasting & Telecommunications Infrastructures to allow the public to check the list of registered buildings with indoor 5G equipment installed.
 
     "As 5G services continue to evolve, comprehensive 5G network coverage will not only satisfy the public's demand for high-speed and reliable mobile services, but also facilitate the development of various innovative and smart city applications in Hong Kong. We encourage more buildings to participate in the Labelling Scheme and collaborate with MNOs to enhance indoor mobile network coverage and capacity through installation of 5G base stations inside buildings, which will also enhance the overall image of the participating buildings," the OFCA spokesman said.
 
     Following the passage of the Telecommunications (Amendment) Ordinance 2024 in the Legislative Council after the third reading on February 21 this year, which implements the proposed initiative in the 2022 Policy Address to promote 5G development, specified new and redeveloped buildings (including commercial, industrial, residential and hotel buildings) will reserve appropriate space for MNOs to install and maintain mobile communications facilities. New government buildings and public housing estates will also follow the same arrangements to install mobile communications facilities. The relevant Code of Practice will require MNOs to install 5G communications facilities in indoor common areas as far as practicable. These arrangements will facilitate further expansion of mobile network coverage and capacity in Hong Kong.
 
     OFCA has set up a dedicated thematic webpage (www.ofca.gov.hk/Indoor5G/en) for the Labelling Scheme. Building managers interested in participating in the scheme may contact the MNOs or call OFCA's hotline (2961 6333) for enquiries.