XN000022-1996-06-05 — Page 26

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New Territories Land Exchange Entitlements Bill

Following is the speech by the Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands, Mr Bowen Leung, in moving the second reading of the New Territories Land Exchange Entitlements (Redemption) Bill in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Mr President,

I move the second reading of the New Territories Land Exchange Entitlements (Redemption) Bill.

New Territories land exchange entitlements, commonly known as Letters A/B, were issued between 1960 and 1983 to landowners in the New Territories whose land was required for development. Letters A were issued if the land was surrendered to Government before notices of resumption were issued. Letters B were issued if the land was surrendered to Government after notices of resumption had been issued.

Letters A/B holders were entitled to exchange their entitlements, as an alternative to cash compensation, for building land. The land surrendered or resumed was credited with a face value assessed with reference to the level of land values at the time the land was surrendered or resumed.

The issue of Letters A/B was stopped in 1983 because of increasing difficulties in meeting the exchange commitment. Since 1 April 1984, Letter A/B holders have had the additional option of surrendering their documents for cash in accordance with a schedule of monetized values, which are gazetted and revised twice a year. These monetized values are determined having regard to the movements of property prices in the New Territories.

Over the years, about 95% of all the Letters A/B have been redeemed by the Government either through land tenders or cash payment. The Director of Lands estimates that a total of about 6.75 hectares of entitlements are outstanding at present. Out of this, 4.68 hectares of equivalent building land are held by four major property developers. The ownership of the remaining 2.07 hectares of building land is likely to be untraceable because the owners might have died intestate and the estates remain unclaimed or they may have emigrated.

It has been, and remains, the Government's intention to redeem all the outstanding Letters A/B as soon as possible. To this end, sufficient land has been made available in the 1996-97 Land Disposal Programme to cover all the outstanding commitments.