News Stories:

Click-on these handy "jump links" to quickly access the news item
you're looking for.

1. Economic zones will need own bridge: agency

2. Lamma residents fight ring road plan

1. Economic zones will need own bridge: agency
GARY CHEUNG, SCMP 16 June 2003

A bridge linking Zhuhai and Shenzhen should eventually be built after the completion of another link connecting Hong Kong with the west side of the Pearl River Delta, officials from a central government agency say.

Some officials from the National Development and Reform Commission have agreed there is a need for a bridge linking the two special economic zones.

The commission's Institute of Comprehensive Transportation has reached an initial conclusion that a bridge linking Hong Kong with the west side of the delta should go ahead because it will foster regional economic integration.

Experts from Guangdong and Hong Kong believe the Zhuhai-Shenzhen link would not be built until at least 10 years after the completion of the bridge linking Hong Kong and the western delta.

The Hong Kong government has recommended a Y-shaped bridge linking northern Lantau island with Macau and Zhuhai.

The former party secretary of Zhuhai, Liang Guangda, said in March that he preferred a bridge linking Zhuhai to Shekou in Shenzhen, saying it would connect to the national highway network.

The alignment of Mr Liang's plan is the revised version of the Lingdingyang bridge proposal linking Zhuhai to Tuen Mun, which he put forward in late 1980s. That project was approved by the State Development Planning commission in 1997 for further feasibility studies but was later shelved.

Zheng Tianxiang, professor at the Centre for Studies of Hong Kong, Macau and the Pearl River Delta at Guangzhou-based Zhongshan University, said a cross-delta bridge linking Zhuhai with Shekou could connect to the Guangdong section of the coastal highway running from northern China to Hainan province, due to open early next year.

Vehicles travelling between Shenzhen and Zhuhai now use the Humen bridge which links Dongguan and Panyu. The bridge will reach its capacity of 120,000 vehicles a day within six years.

"But once the bridge between Hong Kong and the west side of the delta is completed, there is no need for a Zhuhai-Shenzhen link," Professor Zheng said.

Guangdong executive vice-governor Ou Guangyuan said in April last year that his government was studying the feasibility of a tunnel linking Shenzhen and Zhuhai.

But it is understood Guangdong authorities relaxed the pace of that study after Hong Kong expressed interest in the bridge linking Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai in the second half of last year.

A senior researcher at a think-tank under the Guandong provincial government said the bridge linking Hong Kong, Macau and the west of the delta should be given priority over a Zhuhai-Shenzhen link.

2. Lamma residents fight ring road plan
HEIKE PHILLIPS, Environment ReporterEnvironment Reporter, SCMP 16 June 2003

Lamma residents have sent in a flurry of last-minute objections to a proposed ring road for emergency vehicle access they claim is "damaging and unnecessary".

Fresh from doing battle over a proposed reclamation project at Yung Shue Wan harbour, local campaigners said they had only just found out about the plan to build a $12 million ring road.

Submissions close today.

Bobsy Jureidini, a founding member of the Save Lamma Campaign and chairman of the ABLE charity group which lobbies for a better living environment on Lamma, said residents had been unaware of the proposal until an announcement last month.

"It just came out of the blue. When we saw the plans we just said 'oh no - not again'," he said. The project has been 10 years in development.

The Save Lamma Campaign group has been engaged in a three-year battle to stop the proposed reclamation of the island's picturesque Yung Shue Wan harbour.

Faced with widespread opposition from residents, tourists and local business people, the government decided to suspend the original plan in January. Discussions continue over an alternate proposal.

"We are not opposed to development - we are just opposed to bad development," Mr Jureidini said.

A spokeswoman for the Environment, Transport and Works Bureau said almost 70 submissions had been received by Friday, up from just 11 a week earlier.

The 2.5 to 3.5 metre-wide road would take a year to complete. It will form a circle from Main Street through the Yung Shue Long Valley wetlands and forest and past Sha Po Village.

"We're not saying there is no need for some form of improvements," Mr Jureidini said.

"Certainly quite a few areas need widening. But this plan is badly designed. It does not tie in with future development plans."

He said it was ironic that the government had designated Lamma as a tourist attraction yet intended to build a road through some of the island's most beautiful areas.

Hung Sing-yip, senior engineer with rural road development at the Highways Department, said the aim was to improve access for emergency vehicles.

"We want to build proper access roads so we can use better emergency vehicles so we can save people's lives," he said.

Cecilia Chu Wai-sim, of the Save Lamma Campaign, said a recent meeting with government officials revealed the proposal was more than 10 years old and was therefore based on outdated priorities and population projections.

But Gavin Tse Chun-tat, senior engineer with the Home Affairs Department works section, said issues such as population growth had been taken into account and the department saw no need to change the original project.

Lamma resident Adam Luck said he failed to see the justification for the project, other than to benefit developers and as a "glorified job creation scheme".

"I have two small children and I am very disturbed about the safety implications of the road," Mr Luck said.

"Some of the village drivers are already quite irresponsible and speed on the narrow pathways. A wider pathway will just encourage them to go faster."

Ms Chu said the ring road seemed to have been planned without any reference to other projects in Yung Shue Wan, such as plans for a narrow promenade along the waterfront for pedestrians and emergency vehicles.

"The government needs to look at how this project interacts with other projects," she said.

Engineers for the Home Affairs Department and Highways Department both said the harbour reclamation proposal was a "separate project".

But in a separate response from the Home Affairs Department, a spokesman said the ring road project would form part of the pedestrian and emergency vehicle access system shown on the latest approved Yung Shue Wan Layout Plan.

The future development in Yung Shue Wan had been taken into account in the layout plan, the spokesman said.
heike.phillips@scmp.com