Home affairs chief is blasted for saying New World was given project as a 'matter of course'
JOYCE NGjoyce.ng@scmp.com
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 23 August, 2015, 3:32am
UPDATED : Sunday, 23 August, 2015, 3:32am
New World, which built the film-themed attraction, was granted the right to run the avenue site until 2024 and is now seeking to extend that period. Photo: David Wong
The home affairs minister is under fire for saying the government handed a key waterfront project to a developer "as a matter of course", because the company already managed the site.
Lau Kong-wah yesterday came to the defence of New World Development's plan to revamp and expand theAvenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui. He spoke out a day after town planners approved in principle New World's plan for the area, despite overwhelming opposition from the public and nearby businesses.
Lau Kong-wah, home affairs minister. Photo: Nora Tam"We attach high importance to the conditions laid down [by planners] and we will work them out and explain to the district council shortly," Lau told the media yesterday.
Asked how he would address concerns about the lack of a bidding process and the possible transfer of public benefit to the developer, Lau said established procedures had been followed.
"The current organisation has been the agent. It has been doing this work [on the avenue]. We collaborated with it as a matter of course," he said, adding that the government would set up a committee to monitor the project.
New World, which built the film-themed attraction, was granted the right to run the avenue site until 2024 and is now seeking to extend that period. In return, it plans to extend the avenue eastward to Hung Hom. A food hub, a film gallery and a performance venue will be built. It will also take over the public Salisbury Garden and add restaurants there.
The proposed eatery (left) and performance venue with observation deck in TST. Photos: SCMP Pictures
New World will set up a not-for-profit body to run the area.
About 80 per cent of the site is government land. Officials say it is a public-private partnership in which New World shoulders the costs and manages the site.
Albert Lai Kwong-tak, of lobby group the Professional Commons, said Lau's remark was misleading: "He doesn't understand what the established policy is about."
Watch: How do Hongkongers feel about the new developments to the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront?
Tourists often take photos beside the prints of Bruce Lee on the Avenue of Stars. Photo: Sam TsangLai pointed to 2008 guidelines from the government's Efficiency Unit, which said the private sector could bring unsolicited ideas to government but "a competitive bidding procedure would still be required to demonstrate value for money and … probity".
Vincent Ng Wing-shun, a member of the government's Harbourfront Commission, said tendering was needed to "convince the public our harbourfront will be put to good use".
The Kowloon Shangri-La hotel objected to the plan. The hotel is part of Kerry Group, controlling shareholder of this newspaper's publisher, SCMP Group.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1851776/minister-under-fire-lack-bidding-process-avenue-waterfront-project
