WASTE NOT, WANT NOT! We are told that the 2,470 flats in the 7 tower blocks of 'Hunghom Peninsula' are so poorly designed and so poorly built (by the developer) that they should be torn down, thus allowing the same developer to reap windfall profits from the sale of luxury flats to be built on the site. So who knew what and when? Were they just thrown up so the developer could subsequently buy the site for an insignificant $864m? Who is responsible for accepting the design proposal? Who is responsible for ensuring that they were built to the necessary specifications?

"In trying to justify the unjustifiable, the developer has used offensive and unethical arguments in flagrant violation of environmental principles." (SCMP 4Dec04). The government is pushing developers and the construction industry to become certified to ISO 14000 and to adopt environmental policies to minimise environmental impacts, use of resources and waste! Annual Environmental Reports emanating from the concerned organisations should provide interesting reading over the next few years! Where does the Business Environmental Council stand on this? Where is the environmental impact assessment study? Where is the 'Value for Money' study by the Auditor General? Where does the Sustainable Development Council stand? What guidance is coming from the peak industry body, the PCICB? Preservation? Conservation? Responsible Care? Accountability! Oh go on, I hear you say 'It's Christmas, give everyone a gift'.

HOW TIMELY it was then for Dr Roy Barton to give a public lecture at the HKU this week titled "Value for Money in Public Sector Projects". Roy has extensive experience as a senior academic, researcher and consultant facilitating solutions for value management and strategic project planning and review. He will be a keynote speaker at the HK International Value Management conference in June 2005.

HOW IRONIC that the Council for Sustainable Development (the peak govt body chaired by the Chief Secretary and including in its members the Hung Hom Peninsula developer) is hosting a Strategy Summit on Monday 13 Dec 2004 titled "Can Hong Kong be a sustainable city?" From their flyer "Does the way that we live - the amount we throw away, the energy we use and the way we plan our city - leave anything for the next generation? How can Hong Kong be truly sustainable?"

New Bulletin Board Postings & Responses

1. Hong Kong deficit falls to $25.3b.
2. “When small is beautiful”
3. “Reform Archaic Land Policies”
4. SPEED KILLS
5. No hiding under the canopy, please
6. Towering arrogance and greed
7. Private sector can bring more creativity
8 . LEGCO Today !
9 . Add to Skyline News Briefing 2nd December 2004
10 . If you have spare time - try a parking test....

Picture for the week

Lai See

Gut instinct. Mongkok's new super shopping centre, Langham Place, has not received the kind of launch publicity it had hoped for with more than 150 reported cases of food poisoning this week at Shanghai Kitchen. Owner Great Eagle had promised 30 "sizzling" restaurants although reports suggest at least a third of them have yet to receive operating permits. It sounds more like a case of "growling" stomachs down in Mongkok, Ben Kwok, SCMP 4 December 2004

Letters

Hubbub. I hate to strike a negative note, but Hong Kong as a cultural "hub" sounds to me like the Moulin Rouge as a monument to high moral standards. Paul Flynn, Discovery Bay, SCMP 1 December

User pays. Isn't it ironic that, while having ads on the TV against unnecessary wastage, and informing the public that we will have a landfill dumping fee coming up, that we see the biggest demolition coming up in our city. I suggest the government implement an extra-high dumping fee for waste from Hunghom Peninsula and an export licence fee for exporting the recyclable materials to the mainland. In that way we at least get back a bit more than the small fee the developers paid for these flats. Jeffry Kuperus, Clear Water Bay, SCMP 8 December 2004

News Headlines

Developers to face public
STAFF REPORTER, SCMP 8 December 2004
The public will be able to question the developers vying for the West Kowloon cultural district contract in a series of forums.

Suen: We still have veto in flats row
Cannix Yau, The Standard 7 December 2004
The government still has the final say on the fate of almost 2,500 brand new flats in Hung Hom, housing chief Michael Suen said on Monday, warning that developers' plans to reduce to rubble the seven-tower Hung Hom Peninsula, built in 2002 for sale to low-income first-time buyers, had yet to be approved. ``Any alterations must comply with the master layout plan,'' Suen told legislators.

Government to have last word on Hunghom
KLAUDIA LEE, SCMP 7 December 2004
The government will have the final say on whether Hunghom Peninsula can be torn down by developers, the housing chief says.

Expert panel opposes flat demolition
CHEUNG CHI-FAI, SCMP 7 December 2004
A group which advises the government on environmental affairs yesterday spoke out against the Hunghom Peninsula demolition.

Profits vital factor in Hunghom decision
DENISE TSANG and GARY CHEUNG, SCMP 7 December 2004
The developer of the Hunghom Peninsula acknowledged for the first time yesterday that being able to earn bigger profits was a crucial factor in the decision to demolish the seven new housing blocks.

Project adviser 'played no role'
GARY CHEUNG and SANDY LI, SCMP 7 December 2004
Property tycoon Lee Shau-kee has stressed that a retired senior government official who now works for his company did not play any role in its bid for the West Kowloon cultural project.

Cartoon
SCMP, 7 December 2004

Quality Public Housing Construction Awards
Hong Kong Government, 4 December 2004
Housing Department contractors are required to employ more trade-tested workers to raise the quality of public housing construction and maintenance works, the Permanent Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands (Housing), Mr Leung Chin-man, said.

LCQ18 : Concerted effort to clear construction waste found on Tung Wan Beach
Hong Kong Government, 1 December 2004
Following is a question by the Hon Albert Chan and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, at the Legislative Council meeting today (December 1).

Fog?

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