Followers of a rural Hong Kong village church have expressed concerns over the loss of their community building set to be demolished for the government’s ambitious Northern Metropolis project.
About 100 Christians, who gathered at the Communion Lutheran Church – the only church in the Kwu Tung North area – for the Sunday service wrote petition letters on the spot to express their concerns about the relocation arrangement.
The church is located in the Kwu Tung North village slated for redevelopment into a new town centre, which is expected to house 131,600 people and provide 38,700 job opportunities.
Reverend Andrew Luk Chun-yiu of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hong Kong said it had yet to receive an exact date on the relocation or demolition and residents in the area were only told they needed to move as early as May this year.
He said the government offered HK$12 million (US$1.53 million) in compensation for the plot of land, along with HK$400,000 roughly in ex gratia compensation. But the church rejected the offer and asked for a relocation site instead.
“HK$12 million can be used to buy a small flat in Hong Kong. How can we house around 100 people for a worship service? … We hope to have a new site to establish a church,” he said.
