CY's Country Park Flats Idea Just Isn't That Good: CE

Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Monday took a shot at her predecessor, CY Leung, saying if his idea of building flats on the edge of country parks was so good, it would have been done long ago.

Leung, a vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, has again pushed the proposal in recent months, accusing the current administration of allowing Hong Kong's housing woes to worsen.

But asked about the idea on a Metro Radio programme, Lam said the government has strong reservations about such a "controversial proposal".

"Frankly, if developing the edges of country parks is so attractive and easy, the government would've done it long ago. The last administration wouldn't have waited until the final months of its term to bring up the idea," Lam said.

"I was already away from the government at the time, I had resigned [to run for CE]."

She said developing the peripheries of country parks would take quite some time, so her administration has gone with other options.

On the pandemic, Lam said she has submitted a report to Beijing about a gradual easing of border crossing restrictions and her government is waiting for directives.

She said the SAR has no plans in the near future to drop its containment strategy for Covid-19, even as some places overseas say they will now learn to live with the virus.