Aquafarmer Chan Kwok-sun has lovingly tended his fish ponds on Hong Kong's border with mainland China for decades. But his almost 40-year-old ponds near the city's largest and most important wetlands are set to be filled in as the government claims land for an ambitious plan to urbanise the border area that has proceeded despite concerns from locals and environmentalists. The Northern Metropolis project -- which aims to deepen integration with mainland China -- is set to transform 30,000 hectares of land along the border, about a third of Hong Kong's territory, to house 2.5 million people. "To put it politely we are sacrificing for the greater good, but to put it less politely, we have been sliced off, piece by piece," says Kwok Hoi-yin, the village chief of Ha Wan Tsuen, which might now be wiped out entirely. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES ARRANGED IN SEQUENCES