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you're
looking for. 1.
LCQ2: Signboards overhanging from buildings 2.
HOS scheme scrapped 3.
Fund eyes Causeway Bay Plaza 4.
GZI in $800m road projects 5.
Gaffney named acting rail chief
1. LCQ2: Signboards overhanging from buildings
Hong
Kong Government, 19 June 2003 Following
is a question by the Hon Ip Kwok-him and a reply by the Secretary for Housing,
Planning and Lands, Mr Michael Suen, in the Legislative Council today (June 18):
Question: In
reply to my question in February this year, the Administration indicated that
signboards overhanging from buildings would constitute a form of occupation of
unleased government land if they protruded over the streets, and the owners of
such signboards were required to obtain relevant licences under the law. However,
the Administration advised that it had no plan to enforce such a requirement.
At the meeting of the Traffic and Transport Committee of the Central and Western
District Council on the 22nd of last month, a government official revealed that
the Administration intended to impose charges on the relevant property owners
of the World Wide House and the Queen's Theatre in Central for the huge electronic
advertisement signboards on the exterior walls of the two buildings, which have
occupied government land. In this connection, will the Government inform this
Council: (a)
given that there are numerous huge signboards in Wan Chai District which occupy
government land and the Government has not imposed charges on their owners, of
the reasons for its planning to selectively impose charges on the relevant property
owners of the two buildings mentioned above; and (b)
whether it will expeditiously conduct a study on imposing charges on the owners
of huge signboards which occupy government land; if it will not, of reasons for
that? Reply:
President, Advertisement
signboards protruding over streets not only help promote businesses but has also
become one of the characteristics of Hong Kong's cityscape over time. It is estimated
that there are over 200,000 such signboards. Most
advertisement signboards are building works and are currently subject to prescribed
structural safety controls. Earlier, the Administration has considered introducing
a signboard registration system to further ensure the structural safety of signboards.
However, during the course of considering the implementation details, we have
found that the simplest and most effective way is to subsume the relevant control
under the building control system. In fact, if our proposals in the Buildings
(Amendment) Bill introduced into the Legislative Council at the end of April are
adopted, the erection of most advertisement signboards will be categorized as
minor works. We consider that the proposals in the Buildings (Amendment) Bill
would achieve the objective of ensuring the safety of signboards and that an additional
signboard registration system is not necessary. A separate registration system
will only increase the financial burden of business people or signboard owners
as they have to bear various costs relating to licence renewal of signboards,
insurance and declaration of ownership. The Government will also need considerable
resources to establish a registration scheme. Hence, we consider that it is not
necessary to implement a registration system to ensure the structural safety of
signboards. As
regards issuing licences for signboards overhanging unleased land under the Land
(Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance (Cap. 28), this will involve a number of
complex and practical problems. These include the intended coverage of Cap. 28,
the read across implications on other forms of occupation of Government land,
the need for an administrative structure to operate a licensing scheme and the
cost of compliance for the community. We will need to examine these issues thoroughly
and to discuss with relevant bodies before consideration may be given to issue
licences for signboards overhanging Government land under the Ordinance. We will
review the regulation system over signboards from time to time. With
regard to the Hon. Ip Kwok-him's specific questions, the following information
is relevant: (a)
the Lands Department has received applications from the owners of the signboards
in question for approval because parts of the signboards protrude over Government
land. These applications are still under consideration by the Lands Department
in consultation with relevant Government departments. No decision has been made;
and (b) the Administration
is considering how best to handle applications from owners of signboards overhanging
Government land. The Administration's deliberation will include the feasibility
of imposing charges on such activity.
2. HOS scheme scrapped
Fanny
Fung, The Standard 20 June 2003 It's
official - the 25-year-old Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) will be scrapped. Secretary
for Housing, Planning and Lands Michael Suen said yesterday no more HOS flats
would be built. ``There
were some who said we were suspending the construction of HOS flats for a period
of time, leaving the government something to fall back on to resume construction
later. That's only their interpretation. I can now take this opportunity to state
clearly, that ceasing construction of HOS flats means ceasing construction of
HOS flats,'' Suen said last night. He
announced last November that the production and sale of HOS flats would cease
indefinitely from 2003. The measure was one of nine aimed at stabilising the property
market. But he refused to be drawn then whether the HOS scheme would be consigned
to history, prompting speculation that the government could revive the scheme.
Property developers
have since pressed the government for a definite answer that the scheme would
be scrapped once and for all, eliminating some competition for them. There are
now about 25,000 unsold HOS flats. The government would consider selling some
of them but Suen said it would not happen this financial year. ``Under
the current situation, we have to consider the impact it would have on the market
and try to minimise the impact,'' he said. ``We have also considered how that
would have a significant impact on the fiscal position of the Housing Authority
and the conclusion was negative.'' It
is understood the government plans to sell flats only in blocks which were selling
previously. Blocks which have been completed but have not been put up for sale
will be used for other purposes. Options being considered include converting them
into civil servants' quarters or allowing well-off tenants of public housing estates
to move in since they are already paying market-level rents. Suen's
remarks last night answered some of the calls from property developers for the
government to help arrest the property market slide. Suggestions
made include further suspension of land sales, extending the construction period
of private property projects and co-ordinating residential developments of the
two railway companies - Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTRC) and the Kowloon-Canton
Railway Corporation (KCRC). Suen
had insisted previously that the government had no more moves to make to boost
the market. But on Wednesday, Suen told legislators the government was very concerned
about sliding property prices and would welcome proposals about how to halt the
trend. The HOS
scheme was introduced in 1978 to assist lower-middle income groups to buy their
own property. But with the continuous drop in property prices since the 1997 financial
crisis, the overlap between HOS and private residential market had become more
serious. The government
had to cut back on HOS flat production and announced a moratorium on the sale
of HOS flats in 2000 and 2001. But
property prices continued to slide, prompting Suen to announce a nine-point package
last November which included halting all land auctions and suspending the Application
List until the end of this year. It
is understood the government is pondering whether some of the measures can be
extended. Executive
Councillor James Tien called on the government to adopt ``resolute measures''
to halt the fall in property prices including freezing all land disposal until
existing flat supplies were sold. ``The
property market is a major concern of society,'' he said. ``It has an indirect
impact on social stability and our economic growth.'' About
1.4 million households in Hong Kong owned a property, he said. With an average
of three people in each family, property prices had a direct impact on four to
five million people. ``For
example, if the average price of flats has dropped HK$1 million, these four to
five million people have lost [a total] HK$1.4 trillion in the past four to five
years. How would they have extra money to spend and invest? Tien
drew an analogy between ``land and flats'' to ``flour and bread''. ``The
market is all about demand and supply. Land is flour, flats are bread. The government
should stop supplying flour until all bread is almost sold out.'' Tien
estimated there are about 100,000 unsold flats on the market, which would take
about five years to clear. ``In that case, the government should halt land sales
for one to two years,'' he suggested. Tien
said the ``flour supply'' should also apply to residential developments of the
two railway corporations. The government reached a consensus with MTRC and KCRC
that land disposal would be suspended until the end of this year, and the market
was watching closely whether it would resume in 2004. But
Suen said he had no intention ``personally'' to extend the suspension of land
sales. He said he believed developers would only apply for land through the Application
List system if they found it necessary and profitable.
3. Fund eyes Causeway Bay Plaza
Eli
Lau, The Standard 20 June 2003 An
overseas investment fund is in negotiations with Lai Sun Development to buy the
Causeway Bay Plaza commercial buildings. Market
sources said the fund had made an initial offer of up to HK$1.5 billion for each
of the phase one and two towers of the prime office and retail complex. One
building has 130,000 square feet of office space and 123,000 sqft of retail space
while the other has 158,000 sqft of offices and 65,000 sqft of retail. The
sources said Lai Sun had received a good response from other potential buyers,
but the prices offered were below expectations. Nicholas
Wong, Greater China corporate and structured finance head at Jones Lang LaSalle,
said he expected more overseas funds to invest in the local property market after
Morgan Stanley's real estate fund and its local partner Pamfleet bought Vicwood
Plaza for HK$842.8 million recently. ``The
Vicwood Plaza transaction is a strong hint to indicate more international investment
funds will come to the territory,'' Wong said. ``The deal clinched by Morgan Stanley
will put pressure on rival overseas funds, triggering them to follow suit.'' The
transaction was the first entire block investment in commercial property by an
international institutional investor and also the largest property transaction
in Hong Kong this year, sale arranger Jones Lang LaSalle said.
4. GZI in $800m road projects
DENISE
TSANG, SCMP 20 June 2003 GZI
Transport, a Hong Kong window company of the Guangzhou municipal government, has
committed $800 million to three toll-road projects in the municipality, according
to its deputy chairman. Yin
Hui said the investment was aimed at capturing soaring traffic flow in Guangzhou
on the back of rising foreign direct investment and car ownership. The
projects, which would take three to four years to complete, would link the city
with the eastern and western parts of Guangdong, he said after the company's annual
general meeting yesterday. "It
is very hard to find decent projects like these in Guangzhou or even Guangdong
in terms of returns and traffic flow," he said. "The projects are important
to the company's future earnings." He
said the internal rate of return of each project was nearly 15 per cent, at the
top end of the industry average in Guangdong. The
largest project is the East Second Ring Road, with an investment of 3.6 billion
yuan (HK$3.37 billion). Construction
of the toll road, 33 per cent-owned by GZI, will begin in October. GZI
and its allies - the municipal government and its highway bureau - will be allowed
to run the road for 30 years. Construction
of another project - the 38km West Second Ring Road - will begin early next year
and its operation under its existing owners will last for 20 years. GZI has a
33 per cent stake in the project. Mr
Yin said GZI had signed a letter of intent to invest in the 20km extension of
the East Second Ring Road, due for construction at the end of next year or in
2005. The red chip plans to take a 33 per cent stake in the project.
5. Gaffney named acting rail chief
DENISE
TSANG, SCMP 20 June 2003 
MTR
Corp's (MTRC) operations director Philip Gaffney will take over as acting chief
executive when Jack So Chak-kwong leaves the rail operator on July 21. Mr
Gaffney joined the MTRC in 1977 and has helped diversify the company into rail-related
businesses such as telecommunications, advertising and the lease of retail space
at stations. This
week, PCCW said Mr So would join the telecommunications company as deputy chairman
and group managing director in September. Mr
So's contract with the MTRC expires on September 25 but he will be on holiday
from July 21 until then. MTRC
said yesterday it was continuing its global search for a new chief executive.
The hunt for
a successor to Mr So, who is also MTRC chairman, began after he decided not to
renew his contract. The
MTRC said the government would decide on a new chairman in due course. Analysts
said it was an awkward time to fill the MTRC chairman's role as the government
was still deciding whether to merge MTRC with the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corp
(KCRC) into a transport powerhouse. The
government, which started a feasibility study on a possible merger this time last
year, had been distracted by a new fare-setting policy and the Sars outbreak,
they said. The
uncertainty surrounding KCRC's future also has implications for its search for
a successor to chief executive Yeung Kai-yin, whose contract expires in October.
Samuel Lai Man-hay,
KCRC senior director finance and management, will become acting chief executive
after Mr Yeung leaves.
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