“As to whether there are unauthorised building structures or unlawful occupation of government land, our initial evidence shows there is indeed some breach of leases and unlawful occupation, but our primary focus at the moment is to stabilise the slope to ensure public safety.”
Government contractors would inject concrete into the slope to support further consolidation works that were expected to take a few days, Linn said.
“Once that is done, we will proceed with the necessary enforcement against the relevant breaches … When the circumstances permit, we’ll allow the relevant residents to go back to the house under the evacuation arrangement.”
The minister added that experts would evaluate whether the unauthorised works had affected the safety of the slope.
Linn said the two houses next to the property would need to undergo safety checks after their retaining walls were partially exposed due to the landslide.
The occupants had been told to close off their garden and outdoor swimming pools to await safety checks, she said.
03:45
Hong Kong issues its longest black rainstorm alert ever as city pounded by sudden torrential rain
Hong Kong issues its longest black rainstorm alert ever as city pounded by sudden torrential rain
Appearing at the same press conference, Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan Kwok-ki said authorities would strictly enforce the law in response to discovering any illegal structures.
“We place a lot of importance on that, as [the illegal structures] could affect public safety,” he said.
Officials from the buildings, civil engineering and development departments conducted a site visit at the Redhill Peninsula in Tai Tam on Sunday morning to evaluate the impact caused by the landslide and the safety of the slope there.
The Buildings Department on Saturday night issued an evacuation order for house No 72 and asked police to immediately guide residents to safety after assessing the property was in immediate danger due to unstable soil.
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The landslide occurred on a slope near the coastline of Redhill Peninsula, with a picture of the scene on social media showing a barren mountainside, exposed yellow soil and large piles of mud at its base.
At least three individual houses were affected by the incident, one of which had scaffolding erected around it.
The Buildings Department said officials called in to inspect the landslide had deemed houses 70, 72, and 74 along the coast as at risk from sliding mud.
“Houses No 70 and 74 are not in visible danger but since they are next to the slope that was struck by the landslide, the owners have been requested to fence off their outdoor swimming pools and gardens for further inspection,” a department spokesman said.
Redhill Peninsula, a high-end residential estate, houses many celebrities and elite businessmen.
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According to property listings, a detached house in Phase 3 of the development previously sold for as high as HK$112 million (US$14.3 million), with a usable area of 3,136 sq ft and an average price per square foot of HK$37,468.
Jason Poon Chuk-hung, a construction whistle-blower who exposed shoddy work at Hong Kong’s Sha Tin-Central MTR link in 2018, said images from the site suggest someone had dug two floors down to create basements at houses No 72 and 74, while No 70 featured an extended terrace garden on the slope next to its pool.
Poon, who is also the managing director at Chinat Engineering, said such works could have aggravated the pressure on the slope.
The Buildings Department would need to issue a demolition order to the owners of the three sites if inspectors found any illegal structures, resulting in remedial measures that could cost up to HK$10 million per building, he added.
“But the slope has collapsed, which cannot be rebuilt. The best the government can do is to build an artificial slope, which will cost about HK$50 million,” Poon said. “Whether or not the government can claim the construction costs from the property owners will depend on the courts.”
He added that the three houses would be plagued by structural risks going forward and their property prices would drop by 25 per cent.
Veteran structural engineer Ngai Hok-yan said it was clear that earthworks going down two floors had occurred at houses No 72 and No 74 to create basements, but could not say whether such works involved the illegal occupation of the slope on government land.
Hong Kong wakes to submerged roads, landslides amid black rainstorm alert
Liber Research Community, a local NGO focused on land and development research, pointed to satellite images that suggested construction of the garden extension at No 70 had taken place at least 13 years ago.
The organisation questioned whether past leaders of the Lands Departments had turned a blind eye to illegal works, including development minister Linn who served as the body’s director between 2012 and 2017.
Last Thursday, a record black rainstorm alert issued at 11.05pm lasted for more than 16 hours, with the city reporting the most amount of rain ever collected in an hour. The Observatory headquarters logged 158.1mm (6.2 inches) of rain between 11pm and midnight that day, the highest since records began in 1884.
The downpour brought the city to a standstill the next morning as streets were turned into rivers, drivers were left stranded in cars, restaurants and railway stations flooded and landslides struck near residential estates. More than 100 people were sent to hospital.
