Rural leader backs relaxing ancestral land sale rules

A rural leader says he supports the idea of making it easier for indigenous clans to sell ancestral plots, so as to facilitate housing development in the New Territories.

Bowie Hau, chairman of the Sheung Shui District Rural Committee, was responding to media reports that Chief Executive Carrie Lam may announce in her policy address next week that the sale of such plots, or “Tso/Tong lands”, will no longer need the unanimous consent of the entire clan.

Hau told a Commercial Radio programme on Wednesday that it’s understandable that New Territories people have to make sacrifices for Hong Kong’s land development, and a clan could always rebuild their ancestral halls somewhere else.