Govt depts urged to share intelligence on land abuse

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Two separate government departments that deal with unauthorised land use should start working more closely with each other and share intelligence to put a stop to offenders, the Ombudsman said on Thursday. Jack Chan said he has come up with 16 recommendations for the planning and lands departments on how they can better tackle the hundreds of complaints they get each year about problems such as people filling in ponds without permission or turning green belt land and conservation zones into car parks. Chan said the Planning Department's enforcement action sometimes fails to deter repeat offenders and such people should be given less and less time to comply with enforcement notices for each subsequent breach they make. The Lands Department, meanwhile, needs to improve guidelines and training for staff so they can better deal with priority cases in a timely manner, Chan said. The Ombudsman said getting different parts of the government to collaborate more is one of his major goals and to this end, the planning and lands departments "should work together in such cases and to sort it out, instead of one department handling its own matters." Chan also recommended the two departments establish a database for unauthorised development cases "to facilitate interdepartmental intelligence sharing and enforcement, as well as formulate targeted measures for high-risk sites to nip problems in the bud". In response, the two departments vowed to strengthen cooperation with each other, such as by conducting joint enforcement operations against large-scale unauthorised cases through a pilot scheme, and setting up a high-level communication platform. The Planning Department also said it would continue to tackle illegal developments to meet public expectations and streamline its enforcement workflow. For the Lands Department, it said it would review existing guidelines and enhance staff training to follow up on cases in a timely manner. _____________________________ Last updated: 2024-10-24 HKT 15:22