Henderson Land Files High Court Application Seeking Enforcement of Interim Injunction in Ma Shi Po by Court Bailiff

Henderson Land Development Company Limited’s subsidiary, Best Galaxy Limited (“the Company”), has filed an application in the High Court, seeking the assistance of Bailiff to enforce the previously granted interlocutory Court injunction concerning a parcel of land owned by the Company in Ma Shi Po. The Company hopes that the Bailiff will make the few remaining individuals who continue their unlawful occupation within the boundary of the injunction order to vacate the land. Any person who violates the injunction may be convicted of Contempt of Court and could be sent to prison, fined or have their property seized. The application will be heard in Court on 10^th June 2016.

On 2^nd June 2016, the Company deployed a team of workers to erect hoardings around the land, fencing off the area which has been unlawfully occupied for 9 years by a former tenant, Mr Au Lau Kan. Regrettably, the fencing work was met with vigorous obstruction and attacks by the unlawful occupiers. Although the fencing was eventually completed and most of those involved departed peacefully, a few individuals have remained on the land despite the Company’s repeated requests. Their steadfast refusal to comply with the injunction order has left the Company no option but to apply to the High Court for further direction including assistance by Court Bailiff.

Unlawful occupiers illegally built a large and unsafe structure, endangering themselves and the public
Not only have the remaining individuals resisted the injunction order and continued their unlawful occupation of the land, they have also erected a flimsy 3-storey 5-meter high wooden tower which they have frequently climbed up to use as a platform for shouting and chanting. To-date, a handful of individuals remain inside the illegal structure and are refusing to leave. Apart from being inside the injunction area, the illegal structure is also unsafe, endangering those inside and the public. Therefore, the Company has decided to seek the Court’s assistance to require the unlawful occupiers to leave so that the dangerous structure can be removed.

The Au family is unlawfully occupying a total land area of 70,000 sq. ft. which is owned by the Company and which it must recover
In addition to the 5,500 square foot parcel of land involved in the current injunction order, over the past 9 years, former tenant Mr Au Lau Kan and his family have been unlawfully occupying a massive amount of land owned by the Company in Ma Shi Po, totaling over 70,000 square feet. This includes a 7,500-square-foot piece of land which the Au family sold to the Company for about HK$3 million in 1998 and which, at their request, was subsequently rented back to them for farming purposes. However, following the termination of that tenancy in 2007, Mr Au has steadfastly refused to hand over possession of the land to the Company and continues to unlawfully occupy it. The rest of the land unlawfully occupied by the Au family includes three parcels totaling about 21,000 square feet, which they also unlawfully occupied after the tenancy was terminated; and four other parcels of land totaling about 35,000 square feet, which they have unlawfully trespassed onto and occupied in the last few years. As the rightful owner, the Company is determined to recover all these parcels of land, yet still hopes to do so by reaching an agreement with the Au family in a peaceful manner. As stated previously, we are willing to offer cash compensation at not less than the government standard and consider any other feasible and reasonable solutions.

A list of the Company’s land in Ma Shi Po unlawfully occupied by the Au’s family