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1. Draft North Point Outline Zoning Plan amended

2. Bridge contractors unpaid five years on

3. 12 in line for $4b KCRC venture

4. Drive for Route 10 goes on

5. MotionPoster eyes region on back of MTR contract

6. Highway opportunities in the spotlight

7. Field work delays study into wetland protection

8. Magnetic train gains points in KCRC study

1. Draft North Point Outline Zoning Plan amended

The Town Planning Board today (March 28) announced amendments to the draft North Point Outline Zoning Plan (OZP). The amendments to the draft North Point OZP involve rezoning of a site at the junction of Java Road and Man Hong Street from "Open Space" ("O") to "Government, Institution or Community" ("G/IC") to facilitate the development of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Headquarters. In this connection, a site at the junction of Wharf Road and Tong Shui Road is rezoned from "G/IC" and 'Road' to "O" to compensate for the loss of open space. The Notes for the "Residential (Group B)" ("R(B)") and "Residential (Group C)" ("R(C)") zones are amended to the effect that the provision for minor relaxation applies not only to the stated building height restriction but also to the stated plot ratio and gross floor area restrictions for the "R(B)" zone and the stated plot ratio restriction for the "R(C)" zone upon application to the Town Planning Board. The draft Plan No. S/H8/15 incorporating the amendments is now available for public inspection until April 18, 2002 at the Secretariat of the Town Planning Board; the Hong Kong District Planning Office; and the Eastern District Office. Any person affected by the amendments may submit a written objection to the Secretary of the Town Planning Board, 15th Floor, North Point Government Offices, 333 Java Road, on or before April 18, 2002. Copies of the draft plan are available for sale at the Map Publications Centres in North Point and Yau Ma Tei.

[Source: Hong Kong Government, 28 March 2002]

2. Bridge contractors unpaid five years on

Highways officials have still to agree on the final cost of the record-breaking Tsing Ma bridge - five years after the showpiece link was completed. Director of Highways Lo Yiu-ching told the Hong Kong iMail the department was still negotiating with contractors to finalise the cost of building the structure. A $7.14 billion construction contract for the two-kilometre bridge was awarded in May 1992 to a joint venture between British companies, Costain and Trafalgar House, and Japan's Mitsui Corporation. The final price tag of is likely to be about $7.5 billion. The bridge forms part of the Lantau Link, the network that connects Tsing Yi and Lantau Island to Chek Lap Kok airport. But while the Tsing Ma bridge, the world's longest combined road and rail bridge, was completed on time, the construction consortium is still waiting for its outstanding cash. Lo confirmed that contractors who installed a sophisticated traffic control and surveillance system on the Lantau link and part of Route 3 had also still to agree on a final account. Lo indicated the contractors may face a long wait for their money, saying: ``At this moment it is not possible to estimate when settlements are likely.'' Delays to agree on a final price tag have been hampered by a series of contract wrangles between contractors, subcontractors and highways officials. In 2000, Costain and Mitsui won an arbitration against the Highways Department over claims for extra cash that was spent meeting the department's tough concrete specifications. Concrete used to build the 206-metre-high bridge towers has a design life of about 100 years, but the contractors found it initially difficult to meet the technical specification of the material. As a result there was a delay of more than three months and work had to be accelerated to make up for these hold-ups. Costain-Mitsui had claimed about 48 million (HK$534.32 million) extra. There were similar claims by Trafalgar House, now part of Sweden's Skanska group. There were further difficulties in 1997-98 when part of the bridge's road surface blistered and then broke up. The problems were evident before the bridge opened, but they worsened when heavy traffic started to use the bridge after its opening in May 1997. ``All claims submitted by the contractors have been settled but there are some minor issues still outstanding,'' Lo said. ``These have to be resolved before the contracts can be finalised.''

[Source: Hong Kong iMail, 30 March 2002]

3. 12 in line for $4b KCRC venture

The Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) has received 12 expressions of interest from major developers for the $4 billion joint-venture redevelopment project adjacent to the Fo Tan station. The 12 included Cheung Kong (Holdings), Sun Hung Kai Properties, Wharf (Holdings), Henderson Land, Hang Lung Properties, New World Development, HKR International, Sino Land and Nan Fung Development. After the closing of submissions, the property director of KCRC, Daniel Lam said the corporation was satisfied with the response. He said the expressions of interest showed that the property developers were confident about the project after the design had been revised with substantial savings in construction costs. But a spokeswoman from Wing Tai Asia, which had previously expressed interest, said the company had not submitted an expression of interest. She said the firm would rather keep its cash in reserve for the land auction, scheduled for early next month. Analysts said Wing Tai Asia's decision reflected the limited attraction of the site. The development was originally part of the Royal Ascot phase three project by Sun Hung Kai Properties. The company pulled out in August 1998 because of high construction costs associated with the installation of sound insulation panels, which had to be fitted to muffle the noise from the KCRC trains. After a four-year delay, the KCRC revised the design with substantial reductions in building costs in an attempt to make the site more attractive to bidders. Lam said the corporation was scheduled to invite public tenders within the next few months. Some developers who submitted an expression of interest said they needed more information on profit-sharing schemes and land premiums before making an official bid. Property analysts expect the development to cost $4 billion. Apart from the Ho Tung Lau project next to the Fo Tan station, KCRC plans to offer another three sites for development this year, including areas in Tsuen Wan, Sham Shui Po and Tai Wai in Sha Tin, Lam said. The 2.65-hectare site next to the Fo Tan station will be developed into a 1.3 million square foot residential area with retail space of 21,500 square foot. Five residential blocks of 37 to 40 storeys will be built on a two-storey podium to provide about 1,560 apartments and 293 car parking spaces.

[Source: Hong Kong iMail, 30 March 2002]

4. Drive for Route 10 goes on

Road officials are pushing ahead with plans to build the first section of the controversial $22 billion Route 10 highway later this year. This is despite the refusal of legislators to approve finance for the detailed design of the route's northern section on March 8 and continued opposition from locals to the road plans. Director of Highways Lo Yiu-ching said construction contractors would be invited to pre-qualify in November for the $5.5 billion Tsing Lung suspension bridge that would link Lantau and the New Territories at Tsing Lung Tau. This would pave the way for construction tenders to be invited next March. ``Construction will start in December 2003 for completion in December 2008,'' Lo said. He added that construction of the remaining $6.5 billion southern section of Route 10 between Tsing Lung Tau and So Kwun Wat would begin in 2004 for completion in 2008. The Highways Department said the dual three-lane southern section comprised the 1.7-kilometre Tsing Lung bridge that would have a main span of 1,418 metres; a toll plaza at Fa Peng on Lantau; a 2.6km road on Lantau from Fa Peng to Kwai Shek; a 4km highway from Tsing Lung Tau to So Kwun Wat including the 1.6-km Tai Lam Chung tunnel and an interchange at So Kwun Wat. There were also proposals to build two roads at So Kwun Wat and Siu Lam to connect Route 10 with Tuen Mun Road. Lo said design firms, including British companies Mott Connell, Scott Wilson and Maunsell Consultants would carry on working. ``Consultants employed to undertake the detailed design of the southern section are continuing with their assignments to enable construction to be completed by 2008. ``Funding for the detailed design of the Route 10 southern section between So Kwun Wat and Lantau was approved by the finance committee in December 1999.'' Lo said the Tsing Lung bridge, which would provide a second access route between Chek Lap Kok airport and urban Kowloon, together with the remaining southern section of Route 10 were stand-alone projects. This was despite the fears of some legislators that, without the connecting northern section, the So Kwun Wat-Tsing Lung Tau portion of Route 10 could become a road to nowhere after it is completed in 2008. This followed the rejection on March 8 of an application to the Legislative Council's finance committee for nearly $134 million for the detailed design of the 4.5km northern section. This would link So Kwun Wat and Lam Tei where the road would connect with the Yuen Long highway and Deep Bay link. Asked about the status of the $10 billion northern section in the light of the Legco vote, Lo said: ``We will continue to monitor the traffic situation on existing north-south roads in the New Territories and keep in view the implementation programme for the Route 10 northern section.'' Residents opposed to the plans said yesterday they would continue to campaign against the highway until a review had been carried out. Jenny Lee, who represented residents in the Palatial Coast development, near Siu Lam, said: ``We plan a signature campaign with others residents in Lam Tei, Siu Lam and other areas. We hope to submit this to the Legco transport panel to help persuade them to shelve the southern section of Route 10 until a comprehensive plan for the northern section has been done.'' This plan should take into account Gordon Wu's scheme for a tunnel and bridge connection from Lantau to Chek Lap Kok airport.

[Source: Hong Kong iMail, 1 April 2002]

5. MotionPoster eyes region on back of MTR contract

British-based technology firm MotionPoster, which builds and operates advertising space inside railway tunnels, hopes its contract with the MTR Corp will serve as a springboard to its expansion in the region. The MTRC recently appointed the company to install motion posters in some parts of its railway system on a three-month trial. The project aims to test local demand for the service - the first in Hong Kong - ahead of the firm setting up full-scale business operations in the SAR. The launch underlines the MTRC's concerted effort to open up revenue sources by tapping its strong passenger base and train stations. MotionPoster's concept is similar to a silent film. Back-illuminated light boxes are installed inside tunnels, allowing passengers to see a series of posters through the train's carriage windows, creating a moving picture. MotionPoster executive chairman Jeremy Arnold said the group had earmarked £300,000 (about HK$3.33 million) to launch the service in Hong Kong during the three-month trial period. "We'll be responsible for building and operating the service and the MTRC will share the revenue with us," he said. The MTRC will award MotionPoster a long-term contract if the trial is successful. The motion posters will be tested on the Airport Express line and the tunnel between Wan Chai and Admiralty stations. However the service's successful launch, which is scheduled for June, will be challenged by advertisers tightening their belts amid the economic downturn and competition from other advertisers targeting the same audience. Advertisements are already placed inside and outside MTR trains, as well as on the platforms and walls in MTR stations. Free advertising-driven publications are also available in MTR stations. The firm faces another challenge - that of finding customers willing to pay for ads on MotionPoster's billboards, which Mr Arnold has said will be more expensive than other advertising space. "We're confident the services will be popular because audiences have a higher recall rate of our billboards," he said. "We conducted a survey in Budapest [in Hungary] where we run the service. It showed that 48 per cent of those polled found our service made their journey much more pleasurable and 42 per cent more pleasurable." He believed advertising expenditure in Hong Kong would improve in the second half of the year in line with an improving United States economy. He also thought advertising revenue would still come in as MTR trains carried about 250,000 passengers a day. "And many of them are highly educated and young people," he said. MotionPoster recently raised £3.95 million, which will be spent on funding the firm's regional expansion plans. "Hong Kong is an important entry point to the region. We plan to launch our services in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Seoul later this year and then Taipei and Singapore," he said.

[Source: SCMP, 1 April 2002]

6. Highway opportunities in the spotlight

Hong Kong's construction industry reforms and investment opportunities in China's road network come under the spotlight in two conferences over the next few weeks. In Hong Kong, the Asian Construction Management Association is organising a one-day seminar to consider ways of re-engineering construction in the light of last year's Construct for Excellence report. The meeting next Wednesday features more than 12 speakers such as Russell Black, who is expected to outline the Mass Transit Railway Corporation's partnering initiative. The event also features Lee Chack-fan, Hong Kong University Pro-Vice-Chancellor and geotechnical engineering professor, and Billy Wong, president of the Hong Kong Construction Association, both members of the Provisional Construction Industry Co-ordinating Board. This group was set up following publication of the Construct for Excellence report that was produced by the construction industry review committee headed by Executive Councillor Henry Tang. The construction management association said the conference was ``a forum for sharing and discussing issues of concern in the construction industry. Sub-themes include innovative procurement paths and strategic co-operation issues''. This is expected to reflect areas of interest to the co-ordinating board, which has so far held four meetings, with the fifth scheduled on April 22. Among the subjects discussed so far are public works procurement and the management of subcontracting. The second conference, organised by the Asia Business Forum in Beijing on June 3 and 4, will look at investing in mainland road and highway projects. This includes future development plans, investment opportunities, project finance, dispute resolution, risk management and taxation issues. Guo Xiaobei, deputy director of the Institute for Comprehensive Planning at the State Development Planning Commission, said priorities included the development of five north-south expressways, seven east-west highways and eight additional links to western China. Speakers at the China highways conference include Geng Xiaoping, chairman of Zhejiang Expressway Company, Makoto Ojiro from the Asian Development Bank, Samuel Wong from Scott Wilson and representatives from PricewaterhouseCoopers, Merrill Lynch and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking.

[Source: Hong Kong iMail, 2 April 2002]

7. Field work delays study into wetland protection

A strategy to identify and protect ecologically important wetlands will be delayed for a year, with officials saying they need more time for complex field trials. The $50 million study for the scheme to compensate farmers for the rezoning of their land as environmentally protected and denying them development rights was originally scheduled to be completed last year. The study, which also aims to identify the ecological value of more than 4,750 sites occupying 10,000 hectares of wetlands and to examine technical methods for protecting them, was welcomed by legislators and environmentalists when it was announced in 2000. But in a written answer to a question from Democrat legislator Law Chi-kwong, the Environment and Food Bureau said the study's completion would be delayed until later this year. Field trials would not be finished until the end of next year. "It is behind schedule because the consultants required a longer time than envisaged to conduct the field works and the subsequent mapping, due to the unexpected high number of wetland sites," the bureau said. "Due to the complexity of the design works required, the field trial also needs to take more time." Mr Law said the study was likely to recommend compensating farmers with other land. The Frontier's Cyd Ho Sau-lan, who is also deputy chairwoman of the Legco environmental affairs panel, said the Government should speed up identifying sites of ecological value because they could be lost to rapid urban development.

[Source: SCMP, 2 April 2002]

8. Magnetic train gains points in KCRC study

The world's third magnetic-levitation railway system could be operating in Hong Kong as early as 2011, a rail operator says. The Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) said its study of low-to-medium speed Maglev trains confirmed the technology had potential. The study found Maglev trains were quieter, provided better comfort, climbed steeper and accommodated tighter curves. The support structures were less obtrusive and the system needed minimal maintenance, allowing for extended operating hours. However, the technology was less energy-efficient and unable to integrate with existing infrastructure, the KCRC study found. Its operational reliability has not been proved and the trains carry fewer passengers per carriage. The company said Maglev lines were being built in Shanghai and Nagoya, Japan, and will go into service in 2004 and 2005 respectively. "As for niche markets in Hong Kong, there are a number upcoming where a low-speed Maglev system would be worthy of consideration," said KCRC senior director of capital projects James Blake. "One example is the Northern Link Line, which could be considered an ideal application for this type of technology as the line is likely to be built on an elevated structure that suits a Maglev system," he said. The 11km Northern Link will connect West Rail at Kam Sheung Road to East Rail at Kwu Tung and to the border crossing point at Lok Ma Chau. It is due to be completed between 2011 and 2016.

[Source: SCMP, 2 April 2002]