<Pranslation
-DRAFT SPEECH BY HON LAU WONG FAT, MBE, JP
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL – 20 JANUARY 1988–
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New Territories Leases (Extension) Bill 1987
Mr. LAU (in Cantonese):
Sir
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The main purpose of the New Territories Leases (Extension) Bill 1987 is to enable, through legislation, the extension of all New Territories leases after 30 June 1997 for a period of 50 years to 2047 without requiring each of the leases to be renewed individually. The Bill is a
recommendable one in that it avoids the complicated procedures and also saves public expenses involved in the administrative and staffing costs for such renewals.
I would like to take this opportunity to explain briefly why land held by indigenous villagers of the New Territories is allowed to enjoy rent concession after 1997. The major reason is that the form of land ownership in the New Territories is very different from that in the land south of Boundary Street. Before the New Territories was leased to the British Government in 1898, all private land in the New Territories was held as freehold estate with no expiry date on its tenure. However, after the lease of the New Territories to the British Government in 1898 the tenure of these pieces of land would expire before 30 June 1997. Since the sovereignty of the New Territories will be returned to China after 1997, the tenure of private land in the New Territories should be reinstated to the pre-1898 conditions as well. order to solve this problem, the Chinese and the British Governments, in the signing of the Joint Declaration, agreed that land held by a person who was a resident of an established village in Hong Kong in 1898 or a lawful successor of that person in the male line should be exempted from the payment of the new rent. I hope the above explanation will clarify some people's misunderstanding that "the indigenous villagers of the New Territories are enjoying special privileges."
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