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1. Henderson eyes $900m from Paradise Square

2. $1.98b dumping bill nears for builders

3. Waterfront set for $162m facelift

4. Housing official defends dole clamp

5. Construction company fined $10,000 for mosquito breeding violation

1. Henderson eyes $900m from Paradise Square
Raymond Wang, The Standard 11 December 2003

Henderson Land Development is poised to reap about HK$900 million from the sale of Paradise Square in Mong Kok, with the first batch of eight units to be rolled out before Christmas.

General manager of sales Donald Cheung said he saw room for a 30 per cent price increase, taking the price to between HK$4,500 and HK$4,600 per square foot.

The first batch of flats, which will be available for sale on December 21, is priced at HK$3,198 psf.

Located at 3 Kwong Wa Street, the project has a total 272 flats with a gross floor area of about 170,000 sqft. The units range in size from 473 sqft to 849 sqft. Each floor has eight units. The company will launch its Sai Wan Ho Pier housing project early next year, Cheung said.

The blue-chip developer plans to launch more than 8,000 flats in 14 projects next year, with an expected sales revenue of between HK$15 billion and HK$20 billion.

Shares of Henderson Land closed unchanged at HK$32.70 yesterday.

2. $1.98b dumping bill nears for builders
Keith Wallis and Danny Chung, The Standard 11 December 2003

Officials will take the first step in charging contractors for dumping demolition waste and construction material next week when a bill is introduced to Legislative Council.

The move may cost the construction industry up to HK$1.98 billion, based on figures from the Environmental Protection Department.

The Environment, Transport and Works Bureau plans to charge firms HK$125 per tonne for dumping at landfills, HK$100 a tonne at sorting facilities and HK$27 a tonne at public fill sites. The bureau said the fees ``represent full recovery of the capital and recurrent costs of the facilities''.

According to department figures, almost 3.73 million tonnes of construction waste was dumped in landfills last year. Had a charge system been in place this would have cost the construction industry HK$465.75 million.

A further 11.95 million tonnes was processed at sorting plants and that would have cost firms more than HK$1.19 billion. They would have paid HK$322.7 million to dump the material at public fill sites.

Contractors could have reduced such costs by sorting out material on site and selling it to scrap merchants.

But the Hong Kong Construction Association is already warning there may be disputes between contractors and transport firms when the scheme becomes law.

Association secretary-general Patrick Chan said the group had already explained potential areas of dispute to the department, but they had not yet been properly addressed. He expected many disputes and complaints during the early implementation stage of the plan.

Sources also suggest drivers may launch protest action against the charging scheme to coincide with the bill's introduction on Wednesday.

According to the government, ``The charging scheme aims to provide an economic incentive for waste producers to reduce waste and carry out sorting to facilitate reuse/recycling of waste, thereby helping to slow down the depletion of limited landfill capacity.''

At the moment, dumping construction waste in landfills is free. The bill will define construction waste and strengthen controls against illegal disposal. Under the planned law, waste producers will have to open accounts and pay disposal charges direct to the government.

But there is uncertainty about how the proposals, which have been on the drawing board for more than five years, will be policed and how charges will be levied.

The government has already decided that all construction contracts awarded before the start of the charging scheme will be exempt.

This may create opportunities for abuse as drivers and/or haulage firms attempt to avoid paying by claiming material is from exempted contracts. Small contractors may also face hefty charges from unscrupulous drivers and trucking companies who call at more than one construction site to pick up material. Chan ``could not rule out the possibility'' of contractors being charged for waste that was not generated at their sites.

This was because the department would not check on whether the waste actually belonged to the contractor with the account. Chan said contractors would have to rely on their own internal control procedures.

He said some contractors could install weigh bridges at sites or negotiate a comprehensive price with transport firms that included dumping charges.

3. Waterfront set for $162m facelift
CHLOE LAI, SCMP 11 December 2003

Alfresco dining will be available along the Tsim Sha Tsui promenade under a government plan to give the waterfront a facelift by April 2006, according to a paper released yesterday.

Under the plan, $162.3 million would be spent beautifying the 1.6km promenade. The money would be used to improve the area outside the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and Space Museum, to make way for street performances and outdoor activities.

The waterfront between the Avenue of Stars - Hong Kong's version of Hollywood's Walk of Fame - and the KCRC East Rail extension would have new facilities for alfresco restaurants and cafeterias.

The Tsim Sha Tsui promenade covers about five hectares, including the area south of Salisbury Road from the Tsim Sha Tsui ferry pier, the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, the Space Museum, the Museum of Art, and the promenade along the Tsim Sha Tsui East waterfront to the International Mail Centre.

"As a popular site for both the local community and tourists, some of the facilities of the promenade are quite old and their design are not aesthetically consistent with one another," the Economic Development and Labour Bureau and the Tourism Commission said in the paper released to the Legislative Council yesterday.

"To improve the attractiveness of the area and brighten up this central part of the Victoria Harbour, the promenade needs a facelift."

Other improvements include new pavement and street lighting and digital information boards.

Only about one-sixth of the 17.7km Victoria Harbour waterfront along Hong Kong island is accessible to the public for leisure. The figure for the Kowloon side is 6.5km, out of 51.6km.

Existing promenades are mainly short and disjointed. There are seven waterfront promenades on Hong Kong island, with the 970-metre stretch from Quarry Bay to Sai Wan Ho the longest.

Legco's economic services panel will discuss the project on Tuesday and the financial arrangements will be discussed by the Public Works Subcommittee in February.

4. Housing official defends dole clamp
Staff reporter, The Standard 11 December 2003

Housing Department deputy director Tam Wing-pong has denied the government is discriminating against dole recipients in a new public housing rental proposal.

A department source revealed on Monday the government planned to deny dole recipients public housing flats with a high rental value.

The proposed scheme will divide flats into high value - those with a sea view or on higher floors - and low value - without a view or on lower floors.

The source said the 120,000 dole-recipient families already in public housing would not be affected.

The new proposal will target 92,000 public housing applicants who are on the waiting list, including about 20 per cent receiving Comprehensive Social Security Assistance payments.

``If tenants can receive CSSA payment while enjoying discounted rental rates, the problem might be intensified when we implement the non-standardised rental scheme,'' Tam said.

``Most members at the rent policy review committee meeting unanimously agreed that [the current system] would generate problems.'' Member Wong Kwan said the policy was not discriminatory.

He suggested rents of dole recipients could either be waived and their right to choose be taken away, or they could be charged rents at market rates and still have the right to choose.

The government has said it will consult the public on the proposal next year.

5. Construction company fined $10,000 for mosquito breeding violation
Hong Kong Government, 11 December 2003

A construction company was fined $10,000 today (December 11) by a Tsuen Wan Magistrate after mosquitoes were found breeding on a building site.

The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) prosecuted Paul Y-ITC Construction and Engineering Company Limited after a routine inspection found mosquitoes breeding on a site under its management at Tsing Yi Town lot number 140, Tsing Yi, New Territories, on June 2 this year.

Under Section 27(3) of Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance, an appointed contractor of a construction site shall be guilty of an offence if larvae or pupae of mosquitoes are found in any accumulation of water on the site. The maximum fine under this law is $25,000, with a daily fine of $450.

A spokesman for FEHD said that inspections of construction sites would continue and prosecutions for violations of the mosquito breeding ordinance would be taken without prior warning.

He called on the public to report mosquito problems through the department's hotline at 2868 0000.