Hong Kong developers who are ‘hoarding land for profit’ should have it seized by government, says article in Beijing mouthpiece People’s Daily
- Comment piece appeared online and said developers had turned city ‘into a swamp where housing is unaffordable and inadequate’
- Chief Executive Carrie Lam has been reluctant to enforce law in past pointing to potential legal ramifications of such a move
A comment piece in Beijing's mouthpiece People's Daily has urged the Hong Kong government to seize land being hoarded by the city's big developers.
The article, which appeared online under the headline, "Hong Kong cannot wait any more to solve the housing problem!" was published on Thursday evening, and said housing was an "important root cause" of young people taking to the streets in the anti-government protests that have rocked the city for months.
It said a suggestion floated by Hong Kong's largest pro-establishment party on land resumption "undoubtedly offered a way of thinking to solve the puzzle" for the government.
The article came a day after the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong placed a front-page advert in a local newspaper and held a press conference to present its ideas, calling on Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to invoke the Lands Resumption Ordinance to take back idle rural land as a quick way to plug the land shortage plaguing the city.
The city is in the fourth month of anti-government protests, triggered by the now-withdrawn extradition bill, which, if passed, would have allowed the transfer of suspects to mainland China.
"For the sake of public interest, and for the sake of people's livelihoods, it is time developers show their utmost sincerity instead of minding their own business, hoarding land for profit and earning the last penny," it reads.
"What is being responsible to Hong Kong's future? What is showing humanity and providing a way out to the young people? This is the way," it added, picking on the exact phrase uttered by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing when he spoke to visitors about the civil unrest at a religious gathering in a monastery owned by him on Sunday. In a sympathetic note, the tycoon described young people as the "masters of our future".
Under the legislation, the government can forcibly take back privately leased land for an established "public purpose", with compensation for the owner based on the open market value of the land at the date of resumption.
Protesters warned not to try Beijing's patience by Chinese state media
When asked by the opposition to use more of the law to solve the housing crisis last year, the chief executive said the government's "imperial sword" could not be used lightly, as it could lead to legal challenges concerning private property right issues.
But the commentary was adamant the law should be used, noting developers would be compensated.
It continued: "Hong Kong needs not only an effective market, but also a proactive government. The anti-extradition bill (protests) in the past three months have drawn on many young people who did not care about politics, largely because they felt helpless about their future, and housing is an important root cause."
Noting that housing policies made by past and present administrations had been either compromised or shelved, the writer not only blamed opposition lawmakers and people who distrusted the government, but also "developers who care for their vested interests and keep threatening the government and bundling public opinion".
Those developers had "plunged Hong Kong into a swamp where housing is unaffordable and inadequate".
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