Govt Rejects Call To Acquire Nam Sang Wai Site

The government has rejected a call to take control of Nam Sang Wai in Yuen Long, after two fires were reported earlier this month near the popular bird watching site.

The fires, one of which is suspected to have been an arson attack, had left hectares of land scorched.

But the Environment Secretary, Wong Kam-sing, told lawmakers that the damage was not too bad, based on the initial assessment by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department.

"It was found that the fire incident affected part of the grassy vegetation on pond bunds and reedbeds in Nam Sang Wai. Fortunately, various species of birds ... were observed to continue foraging or roosting in Nam Sang Wai after the fire," he said.

"No significant or long-term ecological impacts to Nam Sang Wai are observed at the moment," Wong said.

Neo Democrat Gary Fan alleged that some people may want to see the area's ecological value destroyed. He urged the government to consider buying back the area, through a land swap, to conserve it.

But the environment secretary shot down the suggestion. He said the ordinance for land buy-backs specifies that sites bought should be for public use. Whether ecologically valuable land would come under this would have to be looked into, he said.

"There are quite a number of private sites with high ecological value in Hong Kong so in terms of the size of the land to be resumed and the resources required, I don't think we should take these matters lightly," the secretary said.