By Coconuts Hong Kong November 25, 2014 / 16:38 HKT
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Got HKD22,000 to spare? Nah, didn’t think so. That’s probably because you’ve already unwittingly spent it.
According to government documents, each and every Hongkonger has shelled out the equivalent of HKD22,000 for just nine infrastructure projects that have gone massively over-budget in recent years. Funny how you never hear about them coming in under-budget, isn’t it?
The Ming Pao Daily reports that the worse culprit is the highway project linking Chek Lap Kok and Tuen Mun, which saw an overspend of 134 percent (how is that even possible?) to reach its final price tag of a cool HKD26.7 billion.
There’s also of course the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, the cost of which has shot up by 55 percent (HKD8.9 million) in the past nine months alone.
Oh, and let’s not forget the high-speed rail link between Hong Kong and Guangzhou that’s currently overrunning by HKD27.5 billion to bring the cost up to HKD71.5 billion. Hardly small change.
The government has blamed the unbelievable miscalculations on rising wages and the higher price of construction materials – things most would assumed would be considered in the first place, surely.
According to EJ Insight, industry experts have accused the government of taking on too many high-ticket projects at once.
Poor project management has also led to contractors suing for claims. For example, the MTR has reportedly received claims worth HKD14.74 billion up to September this year.
No wonder ticket prices are going up!
Photo: Pixabay
http://hongkong.coconuts.co/2014/11/25/every-hongkonger-has-paid-hk22k-infrastructure-overspend
