Remarks directed at public and legislature come as government hopes lawmakers approve extra HK$19.6 billion in project funding
LAI YING-KIT
YINGKIT.LAI@SCMP.COM
PUBLISHED : Friday, 04 December, 2015, 5:00pm
UPDATED : Friday, 04 December, 2015, 5:00pm
A view of the rail link construction site at the West Kowloon Terminus. Photo: Felix Wong
The transport minister today apologised to the public over the delays and cost overruns in the high-speed rail link project to the mainland.
The apology by Secretary for Transport and Housing Anthony Cheung Bing-leung came as the government hoped to persuade a highly sceptical Legislative Council to approve extra HK$19.6 billion in funding by February.
Approval of the extra funding for the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link was one condition for a bail-out plan announced by the MTR Corporation on Monday.
READ MORE: MTR’s small shareholders should reject proposal to fund overbudget high-speed rail
The latest price tag for the Hong Kong portion of the project was at HK$84.42 billion, up HK$19.6 billion from the original estimate. Completion was announced as delayed from this year and projected for the third quarter of 2018.
At a Legco railways subcommittee meeting on Friday, pan-democrats accused the government of “having cheated the public” and demanded that officials apologise.
Saying he felt “apologetic” and “disappointed”, Cheung admitted there were “big differences” in the actual cost and time compared to their original estimates made by the previous government in 2009 when the project was proposed.
“I totally understand the public’s and the legislature’s dissatisfaction with the delays and cost increases,” Cheung said. “As the current transport and housing secretary, I certainly must respond to public dissatisfaction with the government in the area of transport.”
“My attitude remains the same here. That is to say [I would] apologise,” he said.
On Wednesday, Chan Kin-por, head of the Legco finance committee, suggested government officials make an apology to try to pacify Hongkongers over the massive cost overrun. He warned that doing so, along with arranging extra committee meetings to review the project, could help avoid the “disastrous consequences” of halting the project.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1886776/hong-kong-transport-minister-offers-apology-over-high-speed
