Activists have been warning for weeks that nearby residents are in danger as the illegal waste hill, four-storeys high, could collapse
ERNEST.KAO@SCMP.COM
UPDATED : Sunday, 20 March, 2016, 4:17pm
Labour Party lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan carried from the protest site by police officers. Photo: SCMP
Six activists were arrested for alleged theft on Sunday morning when they entered the site of a massive, illegal waste hill in Tin Shui Wai and attempted to shovel earth into bags to take to government offices as part of a protest. Two members of the Labour Party including lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan were also arrested.
The were frustrated by the slow pace of government action to tackle the illegal dumping that formed a four-storey-high mound over an area the size of two football pitches.
This was the second daring stunt by the group Land Justice League this weekend. On Saturday, they entered the construction site of the controversial high-speed rail link in Austin, scaled cranes and unfurled banners at the top, calling for the work to be stopped. No one was arrested.
The massive illegal waste dump is approximately four storeys high. Photo: SCMP
On Sunday, lugging shovels, trollies and canvas sacks, about a dozen activists from the group entered the dump site, opposite the private Kingswood Gardens estate, at around 7am.
They climbed the waste hill and erected large banners that read “shame to dumping” and “government responsibility”. They then started filling the bags with earth.
Police stopped the activists from leaving after receiving reports from the site manager, warning them that removing earth from the private site would be tantamount to theft of private property.
After a tense standoff, police arrested five men and one woman for trying to "steal" three bags of earth. Labour Party’s Lee arrived to show his support for the protesters but after refusing to leave, was carried away on all for limbs and arrested for disorderly conduct in a public place. Fellow party member Eddie Tse Sai-kit was also arrested for not having his identity card with him.
Police said an investigation by Yuen Long district crime Squad was underway.
Protestors take matters into their own hands at the Tin Shui Wai illegal waste dump. Photo: SCMP
“To date, we have not seen the Planning Department use the Town Planning Ordinance to take enforcement action,” league member Chu Hoi-dick said before he was also arrested.
“[Tin Shui Wai] is not an isolated example. Across Hong Kong, many illegal dumping cases go unresolved ... If the government keeps ignoring this, we residents will not continue to let the environment be destroyed.”
Later that afternoon, protestors rallied outside Yuen Long police station calling for their release of Lee and the activists.
Two weeks ago, government departments said the “illegal site formation” was potentially “unstable” and “dangerous”. An order to the landowners to ‘shotcrete’ the mound with high pressure air and concrete within a week went ignored.
The Lands Department said nothing could be done as it was on private land and there was no breach of lease. Environment officials said the dumping did not constitute illegal waste dumping but possibly a breach of air pollution laws. The Planning Department said it would look into whether there was any unauthorised development.
And after nearly three weeks, the illegal mound remains on the site despite the government pledging to take “join enforcement action”.
On Sunday, development minister Paul Chan Mo-po reassured the public that the departments were taking “stringent follow-up action” and was in contact with the landowners. “We need to collect lots of evidence, including aerial imagery from different times and study the relevant laws and their applications,” he said.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1927664/eight-hong-kong-activists-arrested-daring-protest
