BACKGROUND NOTE
CONFIDENTIAL
D
E
1.
Construction of the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) has involved
the clearance of a good deal of property in the urban areas of
Hong Kong. Whilst most clearances have been effected smoothly,
one particular development site is the focus of protests by a
small minority of property owners who claim that the compensation
so far offered is inadequate. The protestors formerly owned
property at Sai Lau Kok, a site being cleared for the construction
of the North Tsuen Wan Terminal and rail depot of the MTR.
2.
The procedures for the resumption (ie compulsory purchase)
of land for the MTR are governed by the Mass Transit Railway
(Land Resumption and Related Provisions) Ordinance of 1974,
amended in 1977. Section 4 of the Ordinance deals with resumption;
it empowers the Governor of Hong Kong to order the resumption of
any land within the railway area for the purposes of, and incidental
to, the railway. Where land has been resumed and reverted to
the Crown, the Hong Kong Government has made every effort to provide
alternative accommodation for those concerned and to pay adequate
compensation to property owners. Resumption orders and procedures
are thus entirely in accordance with the Article XXVI (6) of the
Royal Instructions to the Governor of Hong Kong and the relevant
section of the Peking Convention of 1898.
3. The land at Sai Lau Kok was resumed and reverted to the
Crown on 12 November 1978. The statutory compensation payable to
property owners is therefore based on the open market value at
that date, although the sum attracts interest until collected.
CONFIDENTIAL
/Additional