News Stories:

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

1. Lantau super prison poised to get green light

2. Asia Airfreight tender looms

3. Greens attack super-jail option

4. Taskforce fights for Wan Chai Market

5. K Wah wields $2b war chest for new projects

1. Lantau super prison poised to get green light
Paris Lord, The Standard 1 June 2004

A hotly-contested and controversial HK$12 billion ``super prison'' on Lantau Island appears set to go ahead after the government yesterday announced new consultations for a planned 80-hectare reclamation off the island's southwest coast.

Lantau island residents blasted the proposal, saying the prison at Hei Ling Chau and a planned 2.2-kilometre bridge from Mui Wo should be scrapped in favour of other sites in the New Territories.

``The consultation so far has been negligible,'' Green Lantau Association spokesman Clive Noffke said.

``All they've asked us is `which of the reclamation options do you like best?' It's basically asking which of your fingers you want chopped off?''

Releasing the first of two parts of a feasibility study by engineering consultancy Mott Connell, the Civil Engineering Department said the reclamation and bridge were the most preferred of eight options including a tunnel.

The HK$2.5 billion plan involves reclamation, moving existing breakwaters within the typhoon shelter and building a bypass behind Mui Wo to join a new bridge to the island.

The department claims the plan will have a minimal impact on land and marine ecology, will not require new roads within Lantau South Country Park and have only a ``minor impact'' on Tung Chung and South Lantau Roads as most prison staff would travel by chartered ferry.

Project manager Yeung Kin-ming of Mott Connell said the prison's grounds would be landscaped with nine metre-high berms plus trees and plants around 15m high, providing a border 25m high.

Security would also be ensured by a 70m wide ``security zone'' between the prison's edge and the typhoon shelter, the Security Bureau's principal assistant secretary for security Charles Wong said.

A ploy to halt the prison's progress through the discovery of an endangered species was also unsuccessful. Yeung said that although Bogadek's burrowing lizards had been reported living on Hei Ling Chau and Sunshine Islands, none were found during three site visits. The land formation works are unlikely to affect their habitat, although more detailed studies are to be done, Yeung said.

Civil Engineering Department deputy director (civil) Mok Yick-fan acknowledged that the super prison is a ``hard sell'' to a wary public.

``We are quite sure that we've done our best in securing one site which is for the best of Hong Kong as a whole,'' he said.

The bureau says it wants a new prison to solve the present overcrowding problem and free eight existing prisons for redevelopment. The bureau also argues 19 existing prisons are more than 20 years old and needed replacing.

Living Islands Movement spokesman Tom Masterson said Hei Ling Chau is the wrong site.

``They could save HK$6 billion by putting it anywhere on the mainland,'' he said. ``What they should be doing is looking at alternative sites.''

The public's views are being sought by the Civil Engineering Department until July 31, before its officials return to the Legislative Council, probably in November, to request funding for the study's second stage.

2. Asia Airfreight tender looms
Keith Wallis, The Standard 1 June 2004

Construction contractors will be invited to tender soon for work to start by the end of this year on a HK$1.5 billion extension to the Asia Airfreight Terminal complex at Chek Lap Kok.

The project will formally get the go-ahead on Thursday, when the consortium signs a licensing agreement with the Airport Authority.

Barbara Yeung, Asia Airfreight Terminal marketing manager, confirmed the deal would be signed on Thursday but was reluctant to give further details pending a formal announcement.

The so-called Terminal 2 development will more than double the handling capacity of the existing facility from the present 600,000 tonnes a year to 1.5 million tonnes.

Industry insiders confirmed that the bids would be called, probably in August or September.

Construction is planned to start by December for completion in 2006.

Aedas LPT was appointed architect for the facility towards the end of last year along with Maunsell Consultants Asia as civil and structural engineering consultant.

Aedas designed the existing HK$800 million three-storey building that includes an automatic freight-processing system and offices along the glazed southern face of the terminal.

Aedas said the 28,000-square-metre facility included the use of lightweight steel ``in the structure in order to achieve long spans and speed in construction'' together with grey aluminium cladding.

The same materials are expected to be used in the larger extension, which will have a conveyor link to the existing facility to ease the transfer of airfreight.

The extension is needed to meet a surge in cargo volumes at the terminal.

Last year, Asia Airfreight Terminal handled 458,660 tonnes of freight, up from 430,110 tonnes in 2002.

The growth in air cargo volumes has continued in the first part of this year.

In the first four months, cargo volumes rose to 161,020 tonnes, compared with 136,600 tonnes in the same period in 2003.

The terminal is the second largest freight facility at Chek Lap Kok, behind Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals' SuperTerminal One airfreight building.

Major customers are express parcels company FedEx, Lufthansa Cargo and Nippon Cargo Airlines.

Asia Airfreight Terminal's shareholders include Singapore's Changi International Airport Services and Singapore Airport Terminal Services, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines.

Other partners are China Merchants Holdings (International) and Federal Express.

3. Greens attack super-jail option
CHEUNG CHI-FAI, SCMP 1 June 2004

Details of the $12 billion super-jail on Hei Ling Chau were released yesterday, with the government claiming it was the most environmentally friendly option.

But green groups were swift to express their dissatisfaction, saying it could open the door to other developments in what was a proposed conservation zone.

In a feasibility study released yesterday, the Civil Engineering Department proposed spending $1.5 billion to reclaim 80 hectares of land at the Hei Ling Chau typhoon shelter for the prison.

A further $900 million would be used to build a 2.2km bridge and a 350-metre bypass linking the western tip of the island to Mui Wo and the South Lantau Road. An estimated 700 vehicles a day would use the bridge, although most prison staff would get to the island by boat.

The construction proposal was chosen from eight reclamation options and four road link options studied by consultant Mott Connell. Officials said the proposal had already addressed visual and environmental concerns previously raised over the project.

The new prison is meant to replace eight of the 24 jails now in use.

Under the plan, the complex would house about 7,220 inmates - half the original concept - and they would be held in a series of smaller jails rather than one big building. The sites of the eight correctional institutions to be moved to the new complex would be returned to the government for redevelopment.

But green groups and residents on Lantau insisted that Hei Ling Chau was not a suitable location for the proposed prison. The island is home to the endemic Bogadek's Burrowing Lizard, and there were fears the project would lead to further development on South Lantau.

"The whole thing must be stopped right here before more feasibility studies are done so we can reassess if the island is a good site," said Clarus Chu Ping-shing, assistant conservation officer of the World Wide Fund for Nature Hong Kong.

Ng Cho-nam, director of the Conservancy Association, said: "We should not be framed by those construction options. All we need is a comprehensive review on where we should build it."

Green Lantau Association spokesman Cliff Noffke said neither the prison nor the bridge fitted into the proposed recreational zoning of South Lantau.

"It is absolutely inappropriate to build such a complex in the middle of a proposed conservation area," he said.

Charles Wong Sze-ping, principal assistant secretary of the Security Bureau, said it had considered alternative sites, like Kong Nga Po near the border, but this was not chosen because the area could be used to boost economic integration with the mainland in future.

Mr Wong said the bureau would also study whether the prison complex could be financed by the private sector, adding that no management services would be contracted out.

Mok Yick-fan, assistant director of the Civil Engineering Department, said: "We believe we have chosen a site which is in the best interest of the public, but we will continue to listen to their [green groups'] views."

The public has been given two months to comment on the feasibility study. The government will also seek approval from legislators for a more detailed study.

4. Taskforce fights for Wan Chai Market
CHLOE LAI, SCMP 1 June 2004

Bauhaus gem: the building is a rare example of the architectural style

A campaign has been launched to have the Wan Chai Market building reclassified so that it can escape demolition.

The Wan Chai Heritage Taskforce - an alliance of district council members and leading architects - has demanded that the Antiquities Advisory Board take decisive action to protect the building, which is the only example of Bauhaus architecture in the city.

The market is listed as an historical building, which means it can be torn down. If it was reclassified as a protected historical building, the owner would not be allowed to demolish it.

The taskforce has also urged the Urban Renewal Authority and Chinese Estates Holdings, which owns the market, to rule out demolition in any development proposals. Chinese Estates is owned by tycoon Joseph Lau Luen-hung.

Mr Lau's company plans to redevelop the site into a residential and commercial building.

In an open letter addressed to the board's chairman, Edward Ho Sing-tin, the taskforce said: "The market embodies significant historic, architectural and social values which are considered unique in the context of both Wan Chai and Hong Kong at large.

"Hence, Wan Chai Market merits conservation not only for the essence of the long-term sustainability and integrity of the Wan Chai community, but also for enriching the cultural identity of our city."

The taskforce is an alliance of seven groups including Wan Chai District Council, the Hong Kong Institute of Architects and the American Institute of Architects (HK chapter). Members include academics from Chinese University's department of architecture, the architectural conservation programme of the University of Hong Kong, Urban Watch and the Conservancy Association.

Plans to redevelop the market, which was built in 1937, were first floated in 1991 by the Land Development Corporation. In 1996, the corporation sold the project to Mr Lau's company. The tycoon will have to build another market nearby as part of the deal.

Architects said the three-storey building at the corner of Wan Chai Road and Queen's Road East is one of only two well-preserved markets built in the Bauhaus style. The other one is in Phnom Penh.

The preservation campaign faces an uphill battle because both the Antiquities Advisory Board and the Town Planning Board have already endorsed the demolition, scheduled to take place in 2006.

The Antiquities Advisory Board had previously tried to persuade Chinese Estates to preserve the building but the proposal was rejected. To help the board reassess the market, the taskforce has compiled a report on its historical and architectural significance.

5. K Wah wields $2b war chest for new projects
Raymond Wang, The Standard 1 June 2004

With a war chest of more than HK$2 billion, mid-sized developer K Wah International says it is looking for new projects that can give it a double-digit rate of return.

``We will continue to replenish our land bank through government auctions, and Urban Renewal Authority, KCRC and MTR Corporation tenders,'' K Wah managing director Francis Lui said after the company's annual general meeting yesterday.

K Wah has been actively looking to increase its land bank, triggering the release of three residential plots on the government's reserve list for public auction. K Wah outbid a dozen other developers for one of two sites sold last week and a third plot, in Kowloon City, will be auctioned on June 15.

K Wah Real Estates managing director Alexander Lui said more than HK$1 billion has been earmarked to build about 100 luxury flats on the Tung Lo Wan Hill Road, Sha Tin, site it secured last week.

Francis Lui said three low-density residential blocks and up to eight detached houses will be built and released for sale early in 2006. The low-rise units will measure 1,400 square feet to 1,800 sq ft while the detached houses would be 4,000 sq ft to 5,000 sq ft each.

He said the company's liabilities are at the lowest level in five years while total liquidity is more than HK$2 billion, including the proceeds from the convertible bonds issued earlier this year.

K Wah International said its four projects in Shanghai, comprising a total investment of 7 billion yuan (HK$6.59 billion), are progressing well and have not been affected by Beijing's recent moves to slow down the economy. ``We expect to have income contribution from the Shanghai projects starting from the second half of this year,'' Francis Lui said.

K Wah International shares closed unchanged at HK$1.24.