News Stories:

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

1.Tamar project a test of Tsang's political nerve

1. Tamar project a test of Tsang's political nerve
CHRIS YEUNG, SCMP 2 October 2005

Sitting vacant on the Central harbourfront since 1997, the Tamar site has been a makeshift venue for car parking, open-air concerts and commercial exhibitions over the past eight years.

But there are signs that it will soon become a battlefield between the government and business, environmental and political groups.

With the next policy address drawing near, Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen is under pressure to thwart plans for the site to become the new government headquarters.

The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong has stepped up lobbying for an alternative plan to locate the new headquarters at the old Kai Tak airport site.

Influential business figures have also spoken out against the idea of relocating the government headquarters near the heart of the business and financial centre.

Meanwhile, environmental groups are moving to fight for the return of the harbourfront site to the people by rezoning it as an open space, such as a public garden.

The gathering momentum against the Tamar plan marks yet another twist in the long-running saga about the fate of the prime land.

It was allocated for auction in 1997, but the government decided to make it the home of its new administrative headquarters in the wake of the East Asian financial meltdown.

Fluctuations in the property market since then have prompted it to rethink the use of Tamar, including for commercial purposes. In April 2002, the government announced a $6.4 billion plan to build its new headquarters and Legislative Council building at the site in a bid to boost the economy.

But the government made a surprise decision in May 2003 to put the project on hold for six months.

The veil of uncertainty over the government plan was lifted in May this year when Mr Tsang, while campaigning for the post of chief executive, indicated his intention to revive the project if elected.

There are good reasons for Mr Tsang, who was later elected unopposed, to try to put an end to the saga.

The Tamar site, the reclaimed land at West Kowloon and the vacated airport site at Kai Tak stand as embarrassing symbols of indecision by a government that has had "discussion without decision, decision without implementation", as former premier Zhu Rongji memorably said.

With the controversial West Kowloon Cultural District development further delayed because of a change in the single-developer model and the future of the Kai Tak site still on the drawing board, Mr Tsang is eager to give the green light to a big infrastructure project in his maiden policy address.

That would help convey the message that his is a "can do" government, and Mr Tsang would also be able to deliver new jobs in the construction sector, which has been badly hit by a slowdown in the past few years.

If the Kai Tak option has been dismissed as a non-starter, it is probably because it would take the project for the new government headquarters back to square one.

Such a scenario is unpalatable to Mr Tsang and his team, as they are adamant the issue has been thoroughly discussed by the public and in the Legislative Council since the 1990s. Action is long overdue.

Previously, it might have been a mere issue of the best use of the Tamar site from an economic point of view. That remains relevant, but other, complex socio-political factors have entered the debate. These include the political implications of housing the new political centre at Tamar next to the People's Liberation Army's headquarters and the project's relevance to ordinary people.

How Mr Tsang handles the issue will speak a lot about his pledge of a government that can lead, listen and make decisions.