[Mingpao News]The government expects to start the reconstruction project of three urban squatter areas in stages in the second half of this year. A civil society survey found that there are many century-old houses in Niu Chi Wan Village and Zhu Yuen Lianhe Village. Among them, Niu Chi Wan Village According to the latest assessment, a Lau’s mansion existed in or before 1904, witnessing the history of Shisan Township in Kowloon in the early days of Hong Kong’s port opening. The group pointed out that the blue brick roof and stone door frame of the old house are well preserved, and can be restored to its original appearance through restoration. However, the building has not yet been rated as a historical building. It is worried that it will eventually be demolished together with other buildings in the village as squatters. The buildings in the village are evaluated for cultural relics, and the buildings with historical value are preserved. Some scholars even believe that this house is the only remaining village house in the urban area of Hong Kong, and they think it should be preserved. The Development Bureau responded that the Antiquities Office believed that the cultural relic value of the building was low following a preliminary study.
