Government to ‘be its own judge’: Hong Kong harbour fighter weighs challenge

An advocacy group that has fought to protect Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour for 30 years could take the government to court for passing a legal amendment to relax reclamation restrictions, calling it the last-ditch effort before the organisation closes.

Winston Chu Ka-sun, founder of the Society for Harbour Protection and a long-time fighter to protect the city’s harbour from reclamation, said on Saturday that the society has begun winding up procedures before a “new turn of events” from legal advisers that might push the group to remain in operation for the time being.

“However, in this new turn of events, we are advised by senior counsel that there may be a remedy through the law courts. The law courts may be able to declare that this law offends the common law,” Chu said.

The 85-year-old barrister, who began campaigning to protect the harbour in 1995, expressed his disappointment with a legal amendment on Wednesday that would allow the government to carry out small-scale and temporary reclamation works.

The legal amendment could also pave the way for large-scale reclamation under a new mechanism.

The new mechanism would allow the chief executive and his advisers to decide if large-scale reclamation projects at the Victoria Harbour could go ahead, replacing current rules for all reclamation at the harbour to be forbidden unless proven to have an “overriding public need” supported by “cogent and convincing materials” in court.

Small-scale reclamation projects, of 0.8 hectares (1.98 acres) or less, would have to be approved by the financial secretary, following consultation with the Harbourfront Commission, a government-appointed advisory body, and district councillors.