Reclamation via Lantau Tomorrow Vision is a must if citizens want to keep country parks and wetlands untouched, the Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said.
“The society has to understand if the government is not allowed to touch country parks, wetlands, and can not resume some lands with active operations, reclamation remains a feasible option,” she claimed.
Carrie Lam told reporters before she headed into the weekly Executive Council meeting that the government is determined to implement a multi-pronged land supply strategy to sustain and significantly increase land supply despite economic setbacks.
“Increasing land resources is a prolonged process, it will be hard to get things back on track once we stop the ongoing process,” she added.
She also rejected concerns that the Lantau Tomorrow Vision’s mega reclamation plan contradicts President Xi Jinping’s call to protect the environment, saying every jurisdiction has its unique circumstances.
Lam also said there’s an environmental benefit of reclamation, saying it can absorb the public fill materials created by the building works in Hong Kong, which at the moment are shipped to Taishan on the mainland for reclamation.
But she said the quota will be exhausted in a couple of years time and Hong Kong will need to find another solution.
“Authorities will continue to resume over 400 hectares of private land under the Lands Resumption Ordinance, but will have to be cautious with the process to avoid judicial challenges while meeting public demands,” said Lam.-The RTHK/The Standard
