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looking for. 1.
Tamar Development Project put on hold temporarily 2.
Government's $4.9b move to Tamar shelved 3.
$4.7b Tamar complex put on hold 4.
Tunnel firm rules out toll cuts but will offer discounts
5.
Developer plays down Gold-Face effect 6.
Award of the Tender for the Site of the Former Marine
Police Headquarters 7.
Annex to "Award of the Tender for the Site of
the Former Marine Police Headquarters"
1. Tamar Development Project put on hold temporarily
Hong
Kong Government, 26 May 2003 The
Government announced today (May 26) its decision to temporarily put the Tamar
development project on hold in order to review its spending priorities. A
Government spokesman said that the Government would complete the review within
six months and would announce the outcome. The
Tamar Development Project covers the design and construction of a new Central
Government Complex, Legislative Council Complex, Exhibition Gallery, Civic Place,
associated carparking spaces and pedestrian footbridges at the Tamar site. The
Government completed a prequalification exercise for the design and build contract
of the Tamar Development Project in December 2002.
2. Government's $4.9b move to Tamar shelved
AMBROSE
LEUNG, CHLOE LAI and KENNETH KO, SCMP 27 May 2003 Plans
to build a $4.9 billion headquarters for the Hong Kong government on the waterfront
Tamar site have been put on hold because the administration needs to review its
priorities in the wake of Sars. After
years of planning, the government announced in April last year that the new headquarters
for the administration, Chief Executive's Office, and the Executive and Legislative
councils would be built on the Tamar site, a prime location on the Admiralty waterfront.
Under the original
plan, the 4.2-hectare site would have housed a 1.72 million-sq-ft government complex,
a group of Legco buildings covering 286,000 sq ft and a 172,000-sq-ft exhibition
gallery. The
project, with tendering planned to start this month and construction planned to
begin early next year and be completed by 2008, would have provided a new landmark
for the city and relieved the over-crowded Legco Building. Several
construction firms have already been chosen in a pre-qualification exercise. But
the government said yesterday the plans would be "temporarily" put on
hold. A spokeswoman
for the government's administration wing said: "The Sars outbreak has had
a big impact on the economy. We are spending $1 billion to relaunch Hong Kong
and we really have to review our spending priorities before deciding whether to
go ahead with the project." Lawmakers
were annoyed and surprised when they heard the news. But
the spokeswoman said the government could not have consulted legislators in advance
due to the proposal's "sensitivity". Executive
Councillor James Tien Pei-chun, leader of the Liberal Party, said the government
should have consulted lawmakers before making such a drastic decision. "A
new government complex and Legco building could last 50 or 60 years," he
said. "The
move certainly won't help to improve the executive-legislative relationship."
Democrat chairman
Yeung Sum said he was surprised to hear the news, adding that he feared the move
could hit jobs. The government had said the project could create at least 3,000
jobs. Ip Kwok-him,
of the Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong, demanded an explanation.
"Saving money is not reason enough to convince us to shelve the project,"
he said. Frontier
legislator Emily Lau Wai-hing, a member of the Legco Commission, said the body,
which administers the Legco Building and the Secretariat, had not been consulted.
"Tung Chee-hwa
has made up his mind one day and changed it another," she said. "The
lack of a new Legco building will severely harm the pace of democratic reform
because the present building cannot house more legislators if Legco is enlarged
in 2007." The
commission will hold an emergency meeting today to discuss the issue. But
Lau Ping-cheung, representative for the architectural, surveying and planning
sector, said the move could relieve pressure on the deficit and stabilise commercial
property prices. Anthony
Lau Chun-kuen, director of valuations for Knight Frank, said it was unlikely the
government would revert to a private sale and development of the Tamar site as
the office market was depressed. "Existing
government offices are ageing and short of adequate facilities to cope with modern
business," he said. "There is a genuine need to build new offices."
3. $4.7b Tamar complex put on hold
Keith
Wallis, The Standard 27 May 2003 Plans
to build the HK$4.7 billion central government complex and replacement Legislative
Council building at Tamar were put on hold yesterday just four days before legislators
were to discuss funding for the project. In
a statement, officials said the project had been suspended while the government
reviews ``its spending priorities''. The reassessment would be carried out within
six months and the outcome announced later. The
move followed fears that the Legislative Council's finance committee would block
funding for the project when the scheme came up for consideration on Friday. Independent
legislator Albert Chan said yesterday's announcement was ``a very irresponsible
way of handling the project. One day the government says it needs the project.
The next day it is postponed without consultation''. He
believed the move followed a change of heart by Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa
and doubted the budget deficit was the real reason. ``The
deficit is a well-known problem. I can't accept that is the real reason for the
decision. I think it is CH Tung shifting his position again ... It demonstrates
the immaturity of the administration and Tung's inability to lead government,''
he said. Chan
said the decision, after the postponement of the HK$22 billion Route 10 highway
and the home ownership scheme, was ``very bad news for the construction industry''. One
insider believed the upcoming district council elections played a part in the
government's decision. ``The
government did not want to wreck the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of
Hong Kong's chances, particularly in Sha Tin, by focusing on the central government
complex at the same time as the elections,'' the source said. ``The Kowloon-Canton
Railway Corporation (KCRC) is already facing a year's delay and a HK$1 billion
bill after being forced by the administration to re-route the Central-Sha Tin
line away from underneath the Tamar complex. For Sha Tin residents, this means
an extra year without a fast link to Central.'' There
have already been questions about the viability of certain parts of the scheme,
including proposals for a HK$175 million exhibition gallery. Certain
legislators, including Lau Ping-cheung, who represents the architectural, surveying
and planning industry, believed the project should be funded by the private sector
under a public-private sector partnership scheme. This
would involve the private sector financing, designing, building and maintaining
the complex under a 25 or 30-year concession.
4. Tunnel firm rules out toll cuts but will offer discounts
Anthony
Tran, The Standard 27 May 2003 Tunnel
operator Cross-Harbour Holdings has ruled out cutting tolls but says it will launch
a discount package to increase traffic through the Western Harbour Tunnel. Although
traffic throughput was expected to pick up to 37,000 vehicles this month, from
around 35,000 in April, the figure still lagged last year's monthly average of
more than 40,000 vehicles. ``Western
Harbour Tunnel tolls will not be cut in the near future, but we will launch some
promotions to boost the usage rate,'' managing director John Yeung said yesterday. He
said the package would probably be similar to MTR Corporation's ``ride 10, get
one free'' campaign, and an announcement about the deal would be made soon. The
Western Harbour Tunnel, 37 per cent owned by the Cross-Harbour Holdings and built
at a cost of HK$78 billion, has been under-utilised since its opening in 1997. Last
year, traffic throughput of the Cross-Harbour Tunnel, also 37 per cent owned by
Cross-Harbour Holdings, was 43.8 million vehicles, about 0.38 per cent less than
in 2001. In comparison, Western Harbour Tunnel had a throughput of just 14.6 million
vehicles, up 0.8 per cent from 2001. Since
the outbreak of Sars in March, daily throughput has fallen for both tunnels. Throughput
of the Cross-Harbour Tunnel fell to 117,000 vehicles last month, compared with
120,000 in March, while traffic in the Western Harbour Tunnel slid to 35,000 vehicles
from 36,000. Yeung said throughput had started to pick up as the number of Sars
infections started to decline over the past two weeks. For
the year ended last December, Cross-Harbour's net profit rose to HK$67 million
from HK$63.9 million a year earlier, despite turnover falling to HK$271 million
from HK$291 million. Shares
of Cross-Harbour Holdings rose 0.80 per cent to HK$3.15 yesterday.
5. Developer plays down Gold-Face effect
Eli
Lau, The Standard 27 May 2003 Chinese
Estates Holdings' chairman Thomas Lau said the collapse of a Tuen Mun property
developer would not disrupt the company's schedule of new project launches. Speaking
after the annual general meeting yesterday morning, Lau said he believed the case
of Gold-Face Holdings - which is being investigated by the police Commercial Crime
Bureau after defaulting on a HK$200 million loan - was only an isolated incident. Lau
said he saw no problem with the current mechanism of the presale of uncompleted
flats, saying loopholes existed in every system. The company would kick off its
residential projects as planned though he would not reveal how many projects and
units would be released this year as it would depend on the condition of the market. Lau
refused to comment on market speculation the listed company might be taken private. The
speculation arose amid a company share buyback after executive director Joseph
Lau's sale earlier this month of 30 million shares for HK$43.8 million, reducing
his stake in the company to 62.75 per cent from 64.09 per cent. The
chairman said yesterday that the sale was a personal decision by his brother,
adding that the company had been buying back its shares at a comparatively low
price. He said he had no immediate plans to place his own shares. Although
Cheung Kong (Holdings) chairman Li Ka-shing holds a stake in the company, Lau
said the companies had no plans to co-operate. For
the year ended December 31, Chinese Estates posted a net loss of HK$1.46 billion
compared with a HK$535.7 million loss in 2001, due to surging impairment losses
from property assets and poor flat sales. Shares
of the company closed down 0.73 per cent to HK$1.36 yesterday.
6. Award of the Tender for the Site of the Former Marine Police Headquarters
Hong
Kong Government, 27 May 2003 The
Government announced today (May 27) the award of the tender for the monument site
of the former Marine Police Headquarters (MPHQ) in Tsim Sha Tsui (Kowloon Inland
Lot No. 11161) to Flying Snow Limited, a subsidiary of Cheung Kong (Holdings)
Limited, on a 50-year land grant at a tendered price of $352.8 million. "The
Project is the first attempt to engage the private sector to preserve and develop
buildings of historic significance into a heritage tourism facility," a spokesman
of the Tourism Commission said. "We are very pleased to announce the outcome
of a competitive tendering process that has taken into account a host of factors,
including heritage preservation and payment to Government. Government received
six tender proposals from the private sector." The
spokesman said that in line with the objective of preserving our heritage assets
and to promote heritage tourism, tender submissions were assessed on a set of
predetermined assessment criteria which gave equal emphasis to heritage conservation;
competence, creativity and technical issues; economic and tourism benefits; and
payment to Government. The submissions also had to comply with mandatory requirements
on heritage conservation, and fulfil a minimum passing score in the assessment
criteria concerning heritage conservation. Representatives
of the Antiquities Advisory Board and the Hong Kong Tourism Board were involved
in the work of the Assessment Panel formed to assess the tender proposals to offer
expert advice on heritage preservation and tourism aspects respectively of the
proposals. The successful tenderer obtained the highest aggregate score in the
assessment and met both the requirements on heritage preservation and financial
capability. The
spokesman said that the scheme put forward by the successful tenderer envisaged
the conversion of the Main Building of the MPHQ into a heritage hotel. There will
be food and beverage outlets, and retail facilities under the existing platform
of the Site. The proposed scheme was an adaptive reuse of the Site. It performed
well in different aspects of the assessment. Flying
Snow Limited estimated that the proposed development will create about 315 and
500 jobs respectively during the construction and operation stages. In accordance
with the tender conditions, Flying Snow Limited has until March 2008 to complete
the Project. However, the Company's development proposal indicates that completion
of the Project may be in early 2007, allowing time for the necessary statutory
procedures. "The
proposed heritage hotel will bring an exciting addition to the tourism attractions
in Hong Kong, and will also create a synergy with other existing and new tourist
facilities in our prime tourist area in Tsim Sha Tsui," the spokesman said.
7. Annex to "Award of the Tender for the Site of the Former Marine Police
Headquarters"
Hong
Kong Government, 27 May 2003 A
list of other bidders in alphabetical order is attached as follows: (a)
Cosmos Gain International Limited (b)
Silver Peak Investments Limited (c)
Star Gain Development Limited (d)
Star Rays Limited (e)
Sunspark Development Limited
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