DSSOPT: alternative ways to inform will be considered

The Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) will consider alternative ways to announce and inform the city’s residents regarding its land plot distributions that are exempted from open bid procedures, according to the response made by the Bureau to legislator Kwan Tsui Hang’s query.
The DSSOPT states that it will consider announcing its related deals in dispatches approved by the Chief Executive and published in the Official Gazette, adding that other approaches will also be pondered so as to respond to the public’s demands.
In addition, in order to allow for public consultation, the Bureau noted in its response that future cases will be posted to and remain on the Bureau’s official website.
In accordance with the current land law, notices or announcements with information – such as the function of the land and the amount of payment – that are related to the government’s distribution of land plots exempted from an open bid procedure are required to be posted on the Bureau’s website to ensure the public’s knowledge of the process.
DSSOPT has approved a total of eight special land applications since the establishment of the land law in 2014, the legislator’s query stated. However, notices regarding the deals were only posted on the official website for about two weeks and other announcements regarding the deals, such as press releases, were absent.
Legislator Kwan criticised the inadequate transparency of the government’s transactions and expressed that the DSSOPT’s explanation for the short period of the posts until now is far-fetched (DSSOPT claimed to be preventing public confusion). The legislator also pointed out that the public is experiencing difficulties in referring back to related information on the website, with notices having been taken down.