Hong Kong’s Audit Commission has urged Polytechnic University to relax security measures to allow public visits after using HK$230 million (US$29.6 million) to repair damage sustained during the 2019 anti-government protests.
In a report released on Wednesday, the commission said access to the university’s campus in Hung Hom had been restricted to students, staff and other authorised people, who were required to use cards or codes to enter. The measure has been in place since November 2020.
It also found the university had controlled access to areas that should normally be freely available to the public according to land lease requirements. Such efforts included setting up security checkpoints at some locations.
“From time to time, members of the community raised concern about the open campus policy in PolyU,” the auditor said.
The commission cited land leases that said members of the public were permitted to “freely enter the designated space” on its campus “between the specified time for all lawful purposes”.
PolyU, one of Hong Kong’s eight government-funded universities, became a major battle ground between demonstrators and police in November 2019 as part of the months-long protests against a now-shelved extradition bill.
