LAI YING-KIT AND STUART LAU
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 22 September, 2015, 1:10pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 22 September, 2015, 2:05pm
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying today at Tamar, where he said the MTR Corporation needed to complete the high-speed rail link project within budget. Photo: David Wong
The MTR Corp has a shortfall of HK$3 billion to complete the repeatedly delayed, budget-busting high-speed railway to Guangzhou, according to the chairman of the Legislative Council’s transport panel.
Michael Tien Puk-sun revealed the latest figures as the chief executive Leung Chun-ying said the MTR Corporation bears the “greatest responsibility” for completing the rail project within budget.
Tien said today that a total of HK$6 billion would be needed to foot the bill for three outstanding stages of the project, including a tunnel and a giant canopy at the West Kowloon Terminus.
But the project’s reserve fund only had about HK$3 billion left at present, Tien said. "In short, the money now left in the fund is not enough to cover the unfinished projects," he said.
READ MORE: High-speed rail link too idealistic from the start, Hong Kong transport minister admits
The New People’s Party lawmaker estimated that the HK$3 billion fund would be depleted by early next year as construction was still ongoing.
If no additional funding was received by that time, the MTR could halt construction works, postponing the completion date beyond 2018, he said.
Contractors could opt to pull out and seek compensation from the rail operator under such circumstances, Tien said.
He urged MTR chairman-designate, Frederick Ma Si-hang, to urgently hold a general shareholders meeting to discuss how to settle the bill. Ma will succeed Raymond Chien Kuo-fung, the company's current chairman, next year.
Lawmaker Michael Tien heads the chamber's transport panel and has been a vocal critic of the rail link project's cost overruns and delayed progress. Photo: David WongTien added that the rail operator should shoulder part of the extra costs and Ma should seek shareholders’ support for doing this.
“If the MTR and shareholders are reluctant, they will have to ask the government to seek public funds in Legco,” he said.
“But I am afraid Legco will not approve such a move as we think the MTR absolutely should be responsible.”
Speaking before the Executive Council meeting, the chief executive said the government was “very concerned” about delay and over-budget issues relating to the project that he said were “significant” to the city’s socio-economic development.
“As the project manager, it [MTR] has the greatest responsibility and duty to complete the project in a cost-controlling manner,” Leung said.
Intense controversy has surrounded the 26km high-speed railway project which has far exceeded its original budget of HK$65 billion and missed this year’s deadline for completion.
Some 70 per cent of the construction work has been completed, but the opening date has been delayed to the third quarter of 2018, while the latest cost of linking the city to Shenzhen and Guangzhou stands at HK$85.3 billion.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1860326/hk3-billion-shortfall-revealed-hong-kong-chief-executive-puts
