No plans to reclaim land in mainland waters for HK

Beijing has no plans to reclaim land from mainland waters to help increase Hong Kong's land supply, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said.

This came after the Hong Kong Real Property Federation proposed to reclaim around 60 square kilometers of land around Zhuhai-administered Guishan, south of Lantau, last month.

Lam said President Xi Jinping does not favor reclamation due to environmental concerns. If it must be done, reclaiming in Lantau would serve the purpose better, she said.

"I have heard suggestions by think tanks and deputies to the National People's Congress proposing the mainland help increase Hong Kong's land supply by reclamation in mainland waters, but I have never heard the central government mention such a plan," Lam said.

"Those suggestions would mean wrecking the central government's policy for Hong Kong's housing problems, as Beijing attaches great importance to the environment," she said.

"Instead of reclaiming in mainland waters, why don't we reclaim in our own waters?"

Lam also said increasing land supply will be tough given the political climate and the increase in conservation awareness.

"In the past, society was not that concerned about Victoria Harbour, the wetlands and conservation in general. But now, people will rail against the government for these issues, causing delays in development plans," Lam said.

"Developing land nowadays is at least eight to 10 times tougher compared to 1997."

She added: "If we solve land problems by rezoning sportsgrounds and building houses whenever we see a gap, it would be highly unsustainable. It is only a short-term painkiller."

Lam said her government is focusing on mid to long-term policies.

"As we would need to solve a lot of problems to develop land, regardless of its size, I therefore chose to develop 1,000 to 2,000 hectares of land in one go."

Her comments came as sources said issuing bonds is one of the options currently being considered to fund the controversial HK$624 billion Lantau Tomorrow Vision project.

With government reserves dwindling to HK$800 billion due to anti-epidemic measures, many have questioned how it can afford costly reclamation to create artificial islands near Lantau.

In response, the Development Bureau said the government will conduct a study for the Lantau Tomorrow development plan including its funding options, which will look into different forms of funding to implement such large-scale infrastructure.

It said there could be public-private partnership in development, with sources saying that issuing bonds, as suggested by the business sector, is also under consideration.

Another option is to bill construction costs over a span of 10 years.

The proposal was first put forward by pro-establishment lawmaker Felix Chung Kwok-pan of the Liberal Party and the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong's Edward Lau Kwok-fan last month.

However, Albert Lai Kwong-tak, founding chairman of public policy think tank Professional Commons, criticized the government for looking at the bonds option to fund Lantau Tomorrow.

"The government is simply deceiving itself and causing an even heavier burden on fiscal reserves. For example, a HK$600 billion project will turn into HK$700 billion when interest is taken into account," Lai said.

"Issuing bonds paints a picture that seems to reassure people about the plan, but is actually causing a bigger burden on taxpayers and the government reserves."

Activist Eddie Tse Sai-kit from the Save Lantau Alliance echoed the sentiment.

Tse added that scrapping the development plan altogether would be the best option.

"Given the recent slump in the economy, Hongkongers are having a hard time financially," he said. "It will be difficult for the government to raise funds from the public."

michael.shum@singtaonewscorp.com