At a legislative hearing, the bureau says HK$19.6 billion needed to finish 26km cross-border project
LAI YING KIT AND JEFFIE LAM
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 01 December, 2015, 1:52pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 01 December, 2015, 1:52pm
Anthony Cheung (right) with MTR Chairman Raymond Chi’en meeting the media yesterday. Photo: Dickson Lee
Secretary for Transport and Housing Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung said the government had no ‘plan B’ should the Legislative Council decline its request for HK$19.6 billion in extra funding for a cross-border express railway.
“The government could not get any funding without the legislature's approval," he said today. "The coming six months would be very crucial. We have no 'plan B' and there is not much room for discretion.”
If the government fails to secure the funding, the 26km high-speed rail link between West Kowloon and Guangzhou would fall through. Thus far it was about 75 per cent finished and had cost about HK$50 billion.
The MTR Corporation revised its cost to HK$84.42 billion, or HK$880 million less than its previous estimate.
Meanwhile, Cheung did not promise that a proposal to create a single immigration checkpoint for passengers could be tabled at Legco alongside its funding request.
The creation of a single immigration checkpoint was proving a headache for the government as it might require mainland officials to exercise immigration controls and security checks in Hong Kong, a step that could breach the Basic Law, the city's mini-constitution.
When asked if the government would have to seek the national legislature's interpretation of the Basic Law regarding the matter, Cheung said he could not reveal details of the talks at the moment. But he emphasised the final arrangement would be in line with the city's mini-constitution.
Legco transport panel chairman Michael Tien Puk-sun said immigration clearance arrangements would be a crucial factor for lawmakers in deciding whether to approve the funding request.
He said uncertainty remained concerning legal issues as to how immigration clearance would be carried out in the cross-border link. These included a proposal to station mainland officials at the Hong Kong terminal.
“If by February the government has not yet made this clear, I worry this will be a real problem,” Tien said during an RTHK talk show on Tuesday.
But he said city officials would discuss the matter with mainland officials handling Hong Kong affairs early next year and release further details on the matter as soon as possible.
“We cannot ensure that all issues will be resolved by early next year,” Cheung said. “Mainland immigration officers conducting checks in Hong Kong involves complex legal issues relating to the Basic Law,” he said.
Tien said the current proposal by the MTR was “ironic” in that shareholders of a company that should be responsible for its delays would eventually be paid a special dividend.
“To date, the MTR has not come forward to admit its part,” he said during the RTHK talk show.
But MTR Corp’s incoming chairman Frederick Ma Si-hang said that if shareholders approved the proposal they would need to accept a term requiring the MTR to bear any cost overruns above the final agreed total of HK$84.42 billion.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1885455/no-plan-b-hong-kong-transport-chief-says-high-speed-mtr-rail
