About 80 residents of Tseung Kwan O marched in the area yesterday morning to oppose the government’s proposed land reclamation and construction of obnoxious facilities in Tseung Kwan O Area 132. This was the first parade after Hong Kong returned to normal with a “Notice of No Objection” approved and held as scheduled .
The police have imposed a number of restrictions on this parade, including requiring the organizers to strictly control the participation of a maximum of 100 people, parade participants need to hang up number plates for identification, and the parade must parade within the fenced area, etc.
The organizer said bluntly that the strict requirements of the police deterred many residents who wanted to march, but they had no choice but to accept it in order to hold the event smoothly.
About 80 Tseung Kwan O residents and property owners set off outside the Tiu Keng Leng Stadium in the rain at 11:30 am yesterday, passing through Po Yap Road, Tong Yin Street and Chi Sin Street, etc., and marched towards the end of the procession, Tseung Kwan O South Terrace. In response to the request of the police in the “Notice of No Objection”, the organizer distributed neck cards with numbers printed on them to the participants before departure. During the procession, they also marched in the “flow blockade” with red and white tapes, and other pedestrians on the road separated from the media. The “Notice of No Objection” also requires that the organizers need to ensure that the event complies with laws such as the “Hong Kong National Security Law” and the “Prohibition on Masking Regulations”, and strictly limit the parade with a maximum of 100 people. The organizers need to call on extra participants to leave .
After the team set off, they chanted various slogans against the reclamation of Tseung Kwan O along the way, including “against the reclamation of Tseung Kwan O”, “ask the government to listen to public opinion” and “protect the natural coastline”, and raised their hands to appeal for slogans. It was seen at the scene that most of the participants did not wear masks, but some people covered their faces with slogans on their hands from time to time. The police sent a large number of uniformed and plainclothes police officers to monitor and videotape the parade. After the team reached the finish line and assembled for nearly an hour, the participants dispersed peacefully.
Convener: The police reminded in advance to avoid political speech
This time the parade was initiated by the “Metropolis Station Owners Committee”. One of the conveners of the Tseung Kwan O People’s Livelihood Concern Group who applied for the parade, Chen Zhanjun, said that the police had reminded them to avoid political speech beforehand, and had checked all posters, billboards and housing estates in advance. Notice etc. He described that he only hoped that the restriction this time was only due to his “confidence” in the first parade after the epidemic, and that it should not become a common practice in the future to distribute number plates and surround the parade area. .
The parade originally applied to the police for about 300 people to participate, but was later reduced to 100 people at the request of the police. Regarding the final parade with less than 100 people, Chen Zhanjun pointed out that the police have strict requirements on the parade people to register their number plates. I believe that many residents are deterred by this. However, in order to hold the parade smoothly and express the demands of the residents, they had no choice but to accept the relevant requirements, and reiterated that they would not accept it. Real name parade request. Ms. Zhao, who participated in the parade, said that she did not think that the requirement to register a number plate would affect the expression of her appeal, but she hoped that the upper limit on the number of people could be relaxed in the future. Another participant, Mr. Huang, said that putting up a number plate is like always being bound by something, but putting up a number plate means that the marchers are willing to take responsibility.
Development Bureau: Recently, it has actively listened to and collected residents’ opinions
The government proposed in last year’s “Policy Address” that it plans to reclamate and cut slopes in Tseung Kwan O Area 132, create land to relocate the public fill transfer facilities and concrete batching plants originally located in Tseung Kwan O Area 137, and build waste transfer stations and overseas refuse collection stations, etc. 4 public facilities with specific territory requirements. Pan Cheuk-hung, an engineer himself, participated in the demonstration yesterday, questioning whether it is necessary to fill in the sea to build a concrete plant and a solid waste transfer station. Some residents of the demonstration believed that the proposed facilities were too close to residential buildings and urged the government to reconsider.
In response to the parade, a spokesman for the Development Bureau pointed out that the six facilities to be relocated and built in Tseung Kwan O District 132 are all public facilities that support the daily operations of the community, especially the eastern region of Hong Kong. The authorities respect the citizens’ right to express their opinions. Recently, they have taken the initiative to listen to and collect opinions from local residents, including being invited to attend a residents’ meeting to explain the functions and necessity of the six facilities, as well as related relief measures to reduce the impact, including that the facilities will be far away from the nearest housing estates. at least one kilometer and ensure that the design, appearance and operation of the facility are not offensive or a nuisance to the community.
