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1. Alan Leong is dropped from Urban Renewal Authority
STAFF REPORTER , SCMP 25 April 2007
The new make-up of the Urban Renewal Authority was announced yesterday, with chief executive challenger Alan Leong Kah-kit failing to be reappointed to the board of directors.
Barry Cheung Chun-yuen, a board member for the past six years, was named chairman to succeed Edward Cheng Wai-sun.
Reappointed board member Chan Kam-lam, of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, said the government's decision not to reappoint Mr Leong had nothing to do with his run against Donald Tsang Yam-kuen for chief executive. "I don't think there is anything to do with his bid to run in the chief executive election. Mr Tsang is not the kind of person who would kick people out of the board because of that," Mr Chan said.
But one board member, who did not want to be named, said Mr Leong may not have been reappointed due to his handling of the authority's redevelopment project in Kwun Tong.
The member said Mr Leong had kept airing opposition to the project in public while seldom expressing his opinions at board meetings.
"Being a board member, he should be held responsible," the member said.
Mr Leong, who had served on the board for two years, could not be reached for comment last night.
After a two-year consultation, the authority unveiled on Monday the long-awaited HK$30 billion Kwun Tong renewal project, which is the city's biggest. With an area of 5.35 hectares, it affects 24 buildings, 1,635 property rights and about 5,000 people and will take 12 years to complete.
Mr Leong had urged the authority to acquire in one go all properties included in the Kwun Tong redevelopment, saying acquiring properties in phases could be unfair to those included in later stages. He had also urged the authority to retain the characteristics of the old town, instead of simply replacing old blocks with skyscrapers or shopping malls.
As well as the chairman, 18 non-executive directors were appointed or reappointed from May 1.
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