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1. Ex-civil servant won't discuss arts hub row

1. Ex-civil servant won't discuss arts hub row
AMBROSE LEUNG, SCMP 18 December 2004

A former civil servant has refused to appear before the legislature after being criticised for working for a company bidding for the West Kowloon cultural project.

Elaine Chung Lai-kwok, former deputy director of housing, refused to attend a Legislative Council public service panel meeting to discuss the issue, legislator Cheung Man-kwong said yesterday. The panel did not have authority to compel her to attend, he said.

Ms Chung is now business development director for Hong Kong Ferry (HKF), owned by Henderson Land.

The controversy started after she appeared at press conferences in October and last month to promote the bid by World City Cultural Park - also owned by Henderson Land - to develop the massive cultural project.

Both appearances were made before the Civil Service Bureau asked her on November 10 not to attend public functions in connection with the West Kowloon project.

In a letter to the panel that was released yesterday, Ms Chung acknowledged she had advised on a cultural project related to the arts hub development.

The statement said: "As regards the view that HKF's cultural advice on the [West Kowloon project] has given Henderson's bid an unfair advantage, I would like to point out that the labour market is a free market and that I am not the only former government cultural worker who is alive and working." She maintained she had followed civil service guidelines and had done nothing wrong.

She quit as HKF's cultural adviser on December 3. She said that even before she did, she had kept clear of the land and property development aspects of the bid.

Mr Cheung, a member of the panel, said: "We invited her to come, but she said she would only come if we set up a select committee, which has statutory powers to summon her."