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1. We won't budge on hub, says minister

1. We won't budge on hub, says minister
ANITA LAM, SCMP 9 January 2006

The planning minister yesterday insisted the government would stick to its proposal for the West Kowloon Cultural District despite a damning Legco subcommittee report last week that called for a major overhaul.

But an analyst warned the government would do more harm than good if it pressed ahead at any cost.

During a public function yesterday, Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands Michael Suen Ming-yeung backed the stance of Chief Secretary Rafael Hui Si-yan in rejecting the lawmakers' report on Friday.

The panel recommended the government adopt traditional land-sale procedures and use the proceeds to build the cultural facilities.

"The suggestion from Legco has deviated from our original concept," Mr Suen said. "We adopted our current plan because, in the past, many of these development projects were fragmented, not developed as a whole but in pieces.

"So this time we would like to adopt a new mode, to co-operate and build it with the people."

The new mode he referred to specifies that instead of operating the entire 40-hectare site, the successful bidder will be awarded development rights over 65 per cent of the area, including the controversial glass canopy covering the site and the cultural facilities.

The government scrapped its unpopular single-developer approach in October "to satisfy public demands". But legislators say the revised plan is a single tender in disguise.

Mr Suen refused to say anything about the preferences of the three short-listed developers, who have until the end of the month to decide whether they still want to take part. "If our proposal is accepted by at least two of the proponents, we will go ahead," he said.

But Chinese University political analyst Timothy Wong Ka-ying warned the price could be high.

"During the debate on political reform, the government had the support of half of the public and two-thirds of Legco, but now opinion is one-sided," he said. He expected more conflict if the proposal went ahead than if it was rejected.

"The developers have to set up a trust fund of at least $30 billion [for the maintenance of the cultural facilities]. If the profit is not really that rewarding and they are destined to face a lot of political disturbance, they will do their calculations," Mr Wong said.

The chairman of the Legco subcommittee on the arts hub, Alan Leong Kah-kit of the Article 45 Concern Group, said if the government ignored their opinions it would have to answer their questions in the event that it ever needed to apply for funding for the arts hub in the future.

He said they had learned from the Cyberport project, in which Legco's opinion was ignored but lawmakers were later asked to endorse funding for infrastructure.

"So should the government need any funding they will have to provide us with a satisfactory answer," Mr Leong said.