New councillors shun meeting with chief secretary

New councillors shun meeting with chief secretary

Kenneth Lau (centre), who represents Tuen Mun, enters the district councillors' meeting organised by the chief secretary. Photo: RTHK

Only around two dozen of the 479 newly elected district councillors attended a briefing session hosted by Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung at North Point Community Hall on Friday.



Pro-democracy councillors, who swept the elections in November, had earlier said that they would boycott the meeting.



They are unhappy that Chief Executive Carrie Lam held a meeting with the candidates who lost in the polls rather than with them, and have also demanded that the government concede to the main demands of the ongoing protest movement.



Some of the pro-government councillors who attended Friday's meeting slammed those who stayed away.



Frankie Ngan from the DAB, who represents Kwun Tong, said the councillors failed to respond to the people's wishes.



"I think that all the district councillors, no matter what their political background, need to reflect what the residents think in their districts," he said.



Ngan revealed that he spoke to the chief secretary about traffic jams and illegal parking in his district.



The chairman of rural body the Heung Yee Kuk, Kenneth Lau, who represents Tuen Mun, as well as Christine Fong from Sai Kung and rural leader Hau Chi-keung, also attended the meeting.