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1. LCQ18 : Concerted effort to clear construction waste found on Tung Wan Beach

2. Sheung Wan heliport bid

3. Henderson Land sweetens bid with Bruce Lee gallery

1. LCQ18 : Concerted effort to clear construction waste found on Tung Wan Beach
Hong Kong Government, 1 December 2004

Following is a question by the Hon Albert Chan and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, at the Legislative Council meeting today (December 1) :

Question:

It has been reported that due to lax control by the Government, construction waste has been dumped on the Tung Wan Beach on Peng Chau. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the measures in place to prevent more beaches becoming dumping grounds for construction waste; and

(b) whether it has any measures to restore the beaches which have been used as dumping grounds for construction waste, such as the Tung Wan Beach on Peng Chau; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

Madam President,

The case at Tung Wan, Peng Chau involves construction waste suspected to have been produced by local development projects in the 1990s having been illegally dumped near the shoreline of Tung Wan. In 1999-2002, the waste stockpiled at the northern part of Tung Wan at that time was cleared by the Government during the construction of the emergency vehicular access and the promenade at Tung Wan.

(a) The penalties for illegal disposal of waste are stipulated in the existing Waste Disposal Ordinance (Cap. 354) and the Waste Disposal (Amendment) Ordinance 2004 which will come into effect next summer. A person commits an offence if he deposits waste in any place except with lawful authority or excuse, or except with the permission of any owner of the place, and is liable to a fine of $200,000 and imprisonment for 6 months on the first occasion on which he is convicted of the offence and to a fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for 6 months on each subsequent occasion.

To prevent attempts by offenders to evade responsibility, the Amendment Ordinance includes provisions that strengthen control over illegal disposal of waste. For example, it empowers the court to order the person convicted of illegal disposal of waste to remove the waste on Government land. In cases where the removal work has already been carried out by the Government, the court may order the convicted person to pay all or part of the removal cost incurred by the Government as appropriate.

Under certain circumstances, the Lands Department may put up fences, cement blocks or other barriers as appropriate around Government land to prevent unlawful depositing of waste. Other departments, including the Environmental Protection Department, Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, Housing Department, Marine Department and Hong Kong Police Force, will step up patrol and enforcement action against unlawful depositing of waste. Under the Fixed Penalty (Public Cleanliness Offences) Ordinance, they may also give a fixed penalty notice to a person who has committed a minor offence of unlawful depositing of waste in an effort to curb such activities.

(b) Regarding the case concerning Tung Wan, Peng Chau, the relevant departments will continue to co-ordinate their efforts and clear as much construction waste found recently on the beach as practicable. Other beaches will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

2. Sheung Wan heliport bid
STAFF REPORTER, The Standard 2 December 2004

A permanent heliport may be built to meet rising demand for helicopter flights.

The Economic Development and Labour Bureau has proposed that a heliport occupying a site of up to 4,400 square metres be built on the Sheung Wan waterfront.

With four takeoff, landing and parking pads, the site could handle 118 flights a day.

Between 2001 and last year, the number of annual domestic flights increased by 126 per cent.

In a paper presented to the Legislative Council, the government said that along with tourists, the heliport had the potential to attract businesspeople rushing to catch flights from Chek Lap Kok.

3. Henderson Land sweetens bid with Bruce Lee gallery
JIMMY CHEUNG and WINNIE YEUNG, SCMP 2 December 2004

A permanent gallery dedicated to Bruce Lee has been promised by one of the developers competing to build the West Kowloon cultural project.

Robert Lee, brother of the martial arts movie legend, yesterday said Henderson Land had told him it would establish a permanent area in the moving-image museum at its proposed Hong Kong Cultural Park. It would show Bruce Lee films and exhibit personal belongings and childhood photographs.

"I'm really grateful," said Mr Lee after meeting Henderson chairman Lee Shau-kee and the developer's arts adviser, Lo King-man. "Finally a corporation is willing to do this. I really appreciate it."

Bruce Lee followers in Hong Kong have for years been urging the government to fund a permanent memorial to their hero, who died in 1973 at the age of 32.

Professor Lo said they had "just happened" to meet Robert Lee when he stopped in Hong Kong after a visit to the mainland on his way back to Los Angeles, where he lives.

"We're lucky," he said, although he emphasised that they had not signed a contract with Robert Lee who, like Lee Shau-kee, is a native of Shunde in Guangdong.

But Robert Lee said the likelihood of his talking to the other two bidders was dim because "my schedule in Hong Kong is too tight". "Lee Shau-kee and I both happen to be Shunde people," he said. "And I found we got along very well."

Asked whether a Bruce Lee gallery was Henderson's "ultimate weapon" in its bid, vice-chairman Colin Lam Ko-yin said "only an idiot" would not dedicate a section of a moving-image museum to Bruce Lee.

Henderson also plans to establish a fund to nurture artists and to add facilities specifically for Chinese opera, including a permanent outdoor theatre.

Meanwhile, a retired official has been told by the government to steer clear of the project after she was accused of a conflict of interest by working for Henderson Land.

But the government insisted its approval in March for Elaine Chung Lai-kwok to take a post-retirement job with the developer had not been wrong.

Ms Chung, who works for Hong Kong Ferry, a Henderson Land subsidiary, stirred controversy by promoting the company's proposal.

She is said to have good connections with leading museums overseas thanks to her position as director of urban services between 1997 and 1999. She was appointed deputy director of housing in 2002. She retired a year ago.

In the Legislative Council yesterday, lawmakers from across the political spectrum criticised the government for approving her post-retirement job. Democratic Party legislator Cheung Man-kwong said Ms Chung's expertise in arts and property had given Henderson an unfair advantage in the bidding.