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PETITION BY MR LAW KAM-SANG
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY 0.31
15 MAY 1974
HKK 16/7.
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PROBLEM
To decide what reply should be given to a petition from
Mr Law Kam-Sang to the Secretary of State, forwarded under cover
of a despatch from Hong Kong dated 10 April. Mr Law seeks the
reinstatement of the Crown land permits under which he operated
the quarry and which were cancelled in December 1970; or
compensation in lieu.
BACKGROUND
2.
There
The case should be seen against the background of a
change of official policy regarding the leasing of quarries.
Prior to 1969, most quarries in the New Territories were let
subject to the conditions of a Crown land permit. The permit
provided for only three months' notice of termination.
was therefore little incentive for operators to invest in safety
measures or in the most economic methods of quarrying. In 1969
a new quarry policy was introduced whereby permit quarries were
to be phased out and replaced by major quarries to be let on a
tender basis for comparatively long periods, in which a high
standard of safety and operation could be insisted upon and
enforced. The existing owners of permit quarries were given the
required three months' notice of termination, and compensation
was not payable.
3.
The permit quarries were phased out gradually. In the
/case
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