A transport official doesn’t anticipate another budget increase but a lawmaker voices ‘lost confidence’
ALLEN.AUYEUNG@SCMP.COM
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 01 December, 2015, 3:55pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 01 December, 2015, 3:55pm
Undersecretary for Transport and Housing Yau Shing-mu at a Legco hearing regarding the bridge project. Photo:
Lawmakers did not believe government assurances that it only needs HK$5.46 billion in additional funding to finish its portion of the 42km-bridge linking the city with Zhuhai and Macau.
Transport officials this morning were trying to urge legislators to endorse an injection of extra cash to complete immigration facilities on an artificial island built near Hong Kong International Airport for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.
Yau Shing-mu, undersecretary for transport and housing, said at a Legislative Council hearing: “I feel the HK$5.46 billion is sufficient ... I don’t anticipate there will be a further increase.”
READ MORE: City must commit to Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge deadline, say transport officials
But some lawmakers were not convinced.
“In recent years, large infrastructure projects were repeatedly affected by cost overruns and delays,” said surveyor Tony Tse Wai-chun, representing the architectural and planning sector. “Many people have lost confidence in the government’s assessment and budget.”
Labour Party lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan echoed Tse’s scepticism, saying: “I think we have to pay a moment of silence for Hong Kong taxpayers’ money.”
In 2011, the government secured HK$30.4 billion from lawmakers to build a 150-hectare artificial island off the airport.
VIEW AND READ MORE: Three cities, one bridge
But due to a variety of issues including an unstable supply of sand and rock, labour shortages and a delay caused by a judicial review, the government needed to ask lawmakers again for their approval for extra cash to finish the works, this after an unsuccessful overture in June.
Meanwhile, Director of Highways Peter Lau Ka-keung reiterated the reported 6-to-7-metre wide “outward extension” on the eastern side of the artificial island was “normal” and “foreseeable” because of the use of a non-dredging method for reclamation.
Guaranteeing the island was structurally safe after conducting an assessment, Lau said the responsible contractor had remedied the defect at its own cost in July.
Yau also promised lawmakers that the Hong Kong section of the bridge could be finished by the end of 2017. However, it remained uncertain as to when the entire bridge, constructed over the Pearl River Estuary, would open.
“It’s not only Hong Kong,” said Yau of the unclear timeline. “Macau and Zhuhai also have uncertainties with their completion dates ... But, we have a responsibility to do our part well.”
If funding is approved, Hong Kong’s contribution to the project would jump to HK$117 billion.
If funding is declined, Lau said the future operation of the artificial island could be affected because some facilities might be cut, such as car parks.
Last Wednesday, the Highways Department confirmed that construction of the Hong Kong section of the bridge project would miss its 2016 deadline by one year.
Discussion over the extra funding continues on December 9.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1885484/lawmakers-sceptical-over-extra-hk54-billion-sought-hong-kong
