Hong Kong China Rowing Association

In response to the recent report about the occupation of government land by the Hong Kong, China Rowing Association (HKCRA), the HKCRA would like to clarify as follows: –

When the HKCRA began the process for renewal of the land lease with the Lands Department (LD) in December 2012, the LD stated that the wooden boardwalk and floating pontoon were outside the lot boundary and requested the HKCRA to rectify.  We had several discussions with the LD and pointed out that the installation of the wooden boardwalk and floating pontoon were parts of the design of the Sha Tin Rowing Centre (STRC) and that design was approved by the relevant government departments in 1984 when the STRC was first built.  These boat launching facilities have been in use since the STRC was opened in 1985 until now, while there was no major amendments on the terms of the lease.  However, in view of the advice from LD that the structure (wooden boardwalk and floating pontoon) are built outside the lot boundary and that there must be a tenancy of the land beneath the ramp, the HKCRA agreed to apply for Short Term Tenancy (STT) from the LD without prejudice to our previous understanding that we were in full compliance with the conditions of the lease and all government regulations.  Since then, the HKCRA and the LD have been in active communication to process the STT application and this is expected to be executed in the near future.

We would like to reiterate that the wooden boardwalk and floating pontoon are used for launching rowing boats, which is an essential part of the use of STRC in developing and supporting rowing, and for  which HKCRA had obtained relevant government departments’ approval since its construction in 1985.  On this basis, HKCRA is satisfied that its occupation and use of the boardwalk and pontoon in conjunction with the STRC was a fully authorised use of government land.  Shing Mun River, at this moment, is the main venue for sports promotion and elite training of rowing. The wooden boardwalk and floating pontoon are the essential and inevitable structures to connect the STRC and the Shing Mun River.

Unlike most other Hong Kong sports, rowing has no government-provided facilities and relies on the HKCRA self-managed facilities for its development. When compared with the many indoor sports centres, sports grounds and swimming pools available to other sports for their development, the HKCRA is happy to manage its own centres for the promotion of rowing to the community, to school students, universities and other community groups and individuals with the support of relevant government departments.

The HKCRA will continue to closely communicate with LD and other related government departments to speed up the processing of the STT application in order to avoid any disruption to the development of the sport of rowing in Hong Kong.

Thank you for your kind attention.