New urban reclaimed territories won’t pay land swaps debt

Due to the “public interest” the 350 hectares of new urban reclaimed zones are not expected to be used to clear off debts related to land swap deals, Chief Executive Chui Sai On said yesterday at the Legislative Assembly plenary session in response to questions by legislators.
In total the government has 12 land swap cases pending and will have to compensate the former owners.
“Because of the public interest I do not believe that reclaimed land will be granted to clear the debts of the land swaps. These debts will have to be cleared but the process has to be transparent”, Chui Sai On said.
The Chief Executive stressed that the land swaps which happened before between the government and private landowners were fair and open, since they were due to the public interest and involved plans such as infrastructure building or public housing.
Chui Sai On added that previously the government had announced information regarding the land swaps in the Official Gazette and that he is in discussion with the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Raimundo Rosario, to once again release the information about all land debts that the government must repay.
CCAC involvement
The leader of the government also explained the decision to hand the land swap case involving the Iec Long Firecracker Factory to the graft watchdog Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) for investigation.
“It is normal to have queries about some processes and when there are doubts about the legality of such processes, they have to be handed to the CCAC. There were questions in this case so I asked the Secretary [for Transport and Public Works] Raimundo Rosario to hand it to the CCAC”, he said.
For his part, the Commissioner Against Corruption, André Cheong Weng Chon, explained to journalists that this case will be a priority because of the impact it has had on society.
“We’re now doing a preliminary analysis of the case. We only received it two days ago and there seem to be reasons to investigate it. But it is too early to comment on it”, Cheong said. “It’s difficult to tell when the investigation will be concluded. But we understand that there’s a lot of public attention and it will be a priority”.