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1. DAB plan for Kai Tak puts final seal on Tamar stance

2. Tsang wins the battle of Tamar

3. DAB pushes for one-stop government service at Kai Tak site

4. HKR gains approval for Discovery Bay project

1. DAB plan for Kai Tak puts final seal on Tamar stance
Leslie Kwoh, The Standard 27 May 2006

As the government has been putting the finishing touches to its funding proposal for the HK$5.1 billion Tamar development project, Hong Kong's largest pro- Beijing political party has been busy firming its stance in preparation for the upcoming vote.

The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong Friday unveiled its vision for the old Kai Tak airport site, though critics said it was a strategic maneuver aimed at justifying the party's U-turn last month.

"I have no comment, except that they are backing down," independent lawmaker Kwok Ka-ki said.

"I think it's a stepping stone for them, so that they have an excuse to free themselves from whatever decision they'll make on Tamar."

Presenting the proposal, DAB lawmaker Chan Kam-lam confirmed the party would no longer push for the new government headquarters to be built at Kai Tak. "We think it's quite impossible to build a headquarters at Kai Tak at this point in time. It would be difficult to get the Legislative Council's permission," he said.

Chan's statement put a final seal on the party's stance.

Though the DAB was believed to have made the U-turn in April when it voted in favor of an administrative post to oversee the Tamar project, lawmakers had continued pressing the government to consider Kai Tak as an alternative site.

In the party's proposal, Kai Tak would boast a "one-stop" government service center, housing representatives from various frontline administrative departments.

With about 80 percent of the territory's population residing in Kowloon and the New Territories , the party reasoned, the public would find the center an efficient and convenient alternative to traveling into the city.

"We will support the [Tamar] project," Chan said. "We've already gotten the government's promise that it's willing to consider the service center proposal, so we believe we've already achieved our aims."

However, Chan strongly denied the highly-publicized "secret deal" between the chief executive and the DAB, which allegedly guaranteed the party unprecedented power in the political arena.

"There is no secret deal," he said. "We have discussed it all openly and everyone knows it."

Besides a government service center, the party's vision also includes a cruise terminal and a multi-purpose sports stadium.

But harbor activist Paul Zimmerman doubted the party's sincerity, saying he felt it was sacrificing good planning in order to secure its position.

2. Tsang wins the battle of Tamar
CHLOE LAI , SCMP 27 May 2006

Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen has secured the Democratic Party's support for the $5.1 billion Tamar project, guaranteeing a landslide victory for the government's funding bid for the controversial development.

The Democrats' declaration of support yesterday came three days ahead of an initial vetting of the multibillion funding proposal by Legislative Council's public works subcommittee.

It also came as former High Court judge Simon Li Fook-sean added weight to the harbour protection activists' attempts to secure a revision of the scale of the project.

Speaking to the media yesterday, Democratic Party chairman Lee Wing-tat said the party had decided to support the funding bid after the government responded positively to its demands.

The party has previously said it wanted Government Hill to be preserved.

The government has made a commitment to that effect in articles published today in the South China Morning Post and some Chinese-language newspapers.

Information Co-ordinator Andy Ho On-tat last night confirmed that Mr Tsang had reached agreement with the Democrats. "Mr Tsang has shaken hands with the Democrats, and we shall respond to their concerns with a public statement."

In the Post article, Director of Administration Elizabeth Tse Man-yee pledges the government will "enrich and promote the heritage trail in Central to incorporate Government Hill into the existing spots, including the Cenotaph, St John's Cathedral, the former French mission building, Government House and Central Police Station".

It will also protect the Burmese rosewood trees at the Central Government Offices compound.

Explaining the party's decision, Mr Lee said: "The government had told us it would be impossible to make a commitment on the future of Government Hill, it could only outline a direction for the future. So we want them to make a public announcement if it wants to have our votes."

Ms Tse also noted that the government was required under the Town Planning Ordinance to consult the public on any change of land use for the Central Government Offices and Murray Building sites, which are classified "government, institution or community" use.

The commitment by the Democrats means the government will secure a clear victory in Monday's vote, which will be followed by Finance Committee approval scheduled for June 23. The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong and the Liberal Party have already pledged their support for the project, while the Civic Party, which has six votes in the Legislative Council, opposes it.

Opponents yesterday continued to rally against the development, which they said would destroy Hong Kong 's skyline and crowd the island's waterfront.

Declaring his objection, Mr Li accused the government of sacrificing the public good by moving the entire government headquarters to the Central waterfront.

The retired judge, the father of barrister Gladys Li, unveiled his alternative model for a municipal centre at Tamar during a press conference organised by the Society for the Protection of the Harbour and attended by Civic Party leader Audrey Eu Yuet-mee and party lawmaker Alan Leong Kah-kit.

Mr Li also donated $500,000 to the anti-Tamar campaign.

A government spokeswoman said the Planning Department would tomorrow unveil a model on the future of Central waterfront, which would include the design for Tamar.

3. DAB pushes for one-stop government service at Kai Tak site
DIKKY SINN , SCMP 27 May 2006

The government has been urged to set up a one-stop-shop service centre in southeast Kowloon .

The proposal, by the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, is another concession by the party, which had previously advocated moving the government headquarters to the Kai Tak airport site.

When the party changed its stance and backed the administration's Tamar proposal, it said it wanted some government facilities at the southeast Kowloon site. Yesterday's proposal appeared to be a further scaling back of its demands.

However, as it unveiled its southeast Kowloon redevelopment proposal, the DAB dismissed suggestions it had done so in exchange for government support for its plans.

DAB legislator Chan Kam-lam said the party was being practical in dropping its earlier suggestion of relocating the headquarters to southeast Kowloon , since the majority of the Legislative Council would not support it.

"We know it's impossible to move the government headquarters to southeast Kowloon , so we settle for the second best - to have a one-stop government service centre [there]."

Mr Chan explained that since more than 80 per cent of the population lives in Kowloon or the New Territories , it was necessary to build a one-stop service centre, which included frontline sections of various departments, in southeast Kowloon . Doing so would save money by moving some departments away from the high-rent commercial districts, he said.

The DAB had been against building a government headquarters on the harbourfront Tamar site but later threw its weight behind a revised government proposal for a Tamar headquarters.

The party's development proposal for southeast Kowloon envisages building a cruise terminal with two 360-metre berths, a sightseeing tower on the runway of the old Kai Tak airport and a multipurpose sports centre near the Kai Tak station on the Sha Tin-Central rail link. It also proposes building both high- and low-density housing.

Mr Chan said the aim was to turn southeast Kowloon into a vibrant district with tourism, leisure, environmentally friendly housing and government services.

e said the party's proposal had been submitted to the government, which agreed it was feasible.

4. HKR gains approval for Discovery Bay project
YVONNE LIU , SCMP 27 May 2006

Hong Kong Resort has won approval for an about 500-unit expansion of its Discovery Bay residential development that is slated for completion in 2010.

The Buildings Department yesterday gave the go-ahead for the construction of 16 five-storey and four 15-storey residential blocks on the north side of Discovery Bay on Lantau Island . The project will provide a gross floor area of 631,115 square feet.

Separately, Cheung Kong (Holdings) has applied to the Town Planning Board to build seven 19-storey residential blocks and 46 three-storey town houses at Hung Shui Kiu in Yuen Long.

The developer plans a residential project with 743 units totalling 536,855 sq ft on the 175,367 sq ft site.

Cheung Kong acquired the site from Citic Pacific for $880 million last year. The developer revised its original plans by replacing town houses with additional apartments.

Its plan for a hotel on Oil Street in North Point was approved last month. The project consists of a 36-storey, 650-room hotel with a gross floor area of 436,311 sq ft.

Meanwhile, Henderson Land Development has abandoned plans to build a hotel on Sheung Hei Street in the San Po Kong industrial district and will instead convert the industrial property into offices.

The company plans to build a 25-storey office block with a gross floor area of 124,905 sq ft.

Sino Land won approval to build a 27-storey residential block at Fat Tseung Street in Shamshuipo with gross floor area of 64,833 sq ft.