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A spokesman for the Housing, Planning and Lands Bureau today (25th March) expressed regret over the fact that the Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands (SHPL) was unable to attend a public forum at the Kowloon Technical School after his car was stranded and surrounded by representatives of the ¡®Defend the Rights of Housing for Basic Level Joint Association¡¯ outside the school premises for more than two hours.
Instead of attending the public forum to express their views, representatives of the Joint Association chose to encircle SHPL¡¯s car outside the forum venue for two and a half hours.
¡°What happened today is unacceptable. We feel very disappointed. It¡¯s a great pity,¡± the spokesman said.
The forum is the first of the four public forums to be held to gauge the community¡¯s views on the Review of Domestic Rent Policy Consultation Paper released on 9th March.
All the 18 District Councils, major political parties and academics will be consulted during the three-month public consultation exercise. The Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands (SHPL) had introduced the major consultation points to the Housing Panel of the Legislative Council and the Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen of the 18 District Councils last week.
The spokesman said that this organization insisted that SHPL should receive the petition letter himself and rejected all other Bureau representatives to receive the letter.
¡°They also demanded SHPL to attend forums organized by the association. This is unacceptable,¡± the spokesman said.
At an early stage, the association had demanded SHPL to attend a public forum organized by them this evening. As there are far too many forums organized by various district organizations, it was not possible for SHPL to attend everyone of them.
¡°Moreover, to attend these forums on a selective basis will be unfair to all parties concerned. Therefore, we have replied to them and invite them to attend the forum this afternoon,¡± he said.
In fact, when SHPL attended the Housing Panel meeting of the Legislative Council on 17th March, he had personally received the petition letter. SHPL was also surrounded by representatives of the association and had to be assisted by security guards to clear his entrance to the building.
¡°Hong Kong is a society governed by law. We respect the public¡¯s rights to express their views, but hope that they can express their views in a rational and peaceful manner,¡± he added.
Ends/Saturday, March 25, 2006
Issued at HKT 21:21
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