Chief Executive Donald Tsang said that he is reviving a plan to convert the long-disused Tamar site near Central into an extensive new HK$6 billion government headquarters and Legislative Council complex.

Tsang said he is confident the move would generate a profit because it would free up prime sites housing the SAR Government Headquarters in Lower Albert Road and the Murray Building for sale.

Some analysts said, however, that it would be better if the government were to vacate both prime sites to allow commercial development and move out of Central altogether.

Tsang delivered the message during a wide-ranging meeting with editors Thursday, saying he wants the plan back on the table as soon as possible.

''I am sure such a move will be profit-making as the existing sites occupied by the government headquarters are worth more than the Tamar site,'' he told the editors.

Tsang also said the move would create job opportunities while legislators would be happy in a new, larger Legco building.

''Since Legco does not have a solid opinion about this project, I believe I can push ahead with it very soon,'' he said.

However, Tsang declined to say when the plan would be submitted to construct the new government offices on the 2.5-hectare site along the Admiralty waterfront.

He said he would first have to examine the government's Capital Investment Fund to see whether it could afford such a move.

The government first considered the move in 1997, saying the filled-in former British naval basin could be converted to Grade-A office space for government use.

Opinion at the time was divided with opponents describing it as a waste of a prime site while others suggested it would help stabilize the then-stagnating property market.

Former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa shelved the project in 2003, saying the government needed to review ``its spending priorities'' in the face of a HK$68 billion budget deficit. That drew fire from bidders and from Legco, which complained it had not been consulted.

Legco President Rita Fan said she had hoped for new premises by 2008 because the existing building was not big enough to house an expanded legislature.

The Legco building would account for HK$800 million of the HK$6 billion billion Tamar project.

Shui On Group, one of the project's shortlisted contenders, complained that it had wasted HK$10 million preparing its bid for the Tamar development.

Wong Leung-sing, senior manager of Centaline Property Agency, was among those who said the government should sell both sites.

``Both are prime sites. The government should not occupy either one. Since Hong Kong cannot afford further land reclamation, the government should vacate both sites as there is now no room in Central for further business development,'' he said.

He suggested that the government follow the examples of Taipei and Tokyo and relocate its headquarters to cheaper sites in the suburbs.

``There would be several advantages to this. On the one hand it will cost less while on the other it could help spur a building boom,'' he said.

Wong said the government should abandon the idea of having its headquarters in the business center.

``Hong Kong is not a political capital city like Beijing. It is only a business city. It does not need to show its authority or underline its political image by occupying the central part of the territory [with administrative buildings]. It should forsake this kind of old-fashioned thinking,'' he said.

Joseph Ho, managing director of surveying firm LCH (Asia-Pacific), agreed with Tsang that the existing government site could raise more money at auction as it could be used for high-end private flats while the Tamar site is only for commercial use and would attract fewer bids. But he said any move is likely to have implications as the Tamar site lies next to the People's Liberation Army headquarters. ``For security reasons I don't think Beijing would like to see a business complex next to the army base,'' he said.

Meanwhile, responding to The Standard's earlier report that the government is considering dismantling the iron fencing around government headquarters, Tsang said the first priority was security and this would be considered before any decision was made.

cannix.yau@singtaonewscorp.com

carrie.chan2@singtaonewscorp.com