Unable to curb demonstrations, HK administration lure protestors with better housing, livelihood facilities

Hong Kong's embattled leader Carrie Lam has promised to prioritise housing and people's livelihoods to appease deep-rooted discontent about the way the Asian financial hub has been governed, as protesters started gearing up for fresh demonstrations on late Friday.

Lam, who said she caused "unforgivable havoc" by igniting the political crisis and would quit if she had a choice, said in a Facebook post late on Thursday that her government would increase the supply of housing with more policies to be announced shortly, Al Jazeera reported.

While, the now aborted extradition bill that sparked the demonstrations have convulsed Hong Kong since June, protesters are also concerned about economic issues including the sky-high living costs and a lack of future job prospects in the semi-autonomous region.

Hong Kong has some of the world's most expensive property and many young people say that the city's housing policy is unfair.

Lam's comments come as activists plan the latest in a series of protests in the former British colony, which is grappling with its biggest political crisis in decades.

The demonstrations started more than three months ago in response to the extradition bill that would have allowed people to be sent to mainland China for trial in Communist Party-controlled courts.

On Friday, demonstrators are set to carry lanterns and form human chains on the scenic Victoria Peak, popular with mainland tour groups, and on Lion Rock, separating the New Territories from the Kowloon peninsula.