Policy Statement & Submission

Our Ref: SN/9
18 May 2006


Mr Patrick L C Lau, JP
Director of Lands
Lands Department
20/F North Point Government Offices
333 Java Road
North Point, Hong Kong


Dear Mr Lau

Lease Modifications

Our thanks to you for meeting with members on Tuesday, 2 May 2006, and sharing with us the Administration's thinking behind its policies on land use. We are also most appreciative of your candid response to questions and suggestions, one of which members felt should be further pursued through this letter.

At the last meeting, the observation was made on the inordinate amount of time involved with processing lease modifications. While it was recognized that time spent on due process may vary depending on the complexities of individual applications, and despite best efforts by district and head offices to expedite cases, there appears to be a growing backlog with which members are becoming increasingly concerned about. These worries are likely to be compounded by the forthcoming implementation of a government five-day working week.

We would urge government to identify the various bottlenecks that contribute to longer processing times and to resolve these issues quickly before the current situation deteriorates further.

Yours sincerely

Kyran Sze
Chairman
Real Estate and Infrastructure Committee