Vision focuses away from Lantau

The rail and road network masterplan revealed by Transport Secretary Lam Sai-hung has offered the strongest evidence that former chief executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor's Lantau Tomorrow Vision has ceased to be a priority - if not quietly left on the shelf to gather dust.

And that makes practical sense.

While the SAR has yet to rebound from an economic downturn that is becoming clearer each day, policymakers are obliged to focus on one and put another on hold to practice fiscal prudence, as demanded by the Basic Law.

The Hang Seng Index, probably the most commonly cited economic indicator, is struggling to stay above 16,000, which is half the historical high.

The minister's plan for the future includes several new rail links and some new main road connections, most of which will be laid across the New Territories from north to south and from west to east, with the Northern Metropolis at the center.

For example, the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Rail Link is planned to connect Hung Shui Kiu , near Yuen Long, to Qianhai in Shenzhen.

A new Northern Metropolis Highway will also be built to take accessibility to the area to a new level.

There is also a line drawn to link the planned artificial island to Hong Kong Island, but this is less certain than those in the Northern Metropolis.

That leaves one to wonder whether the government is still serious about the Lantau project for now or in the foreseeable future.

The Northern Metropolis strategy was taken up by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu in his policy address in 2022 after his predecessor mentioned it in 2021.

Lee gave both mega projects roughly an equal amount of time in his address.

A year later in the 2023 address, the Northern Metropolis was mentioned more often than its Lantau counterpart.

As Development Secretary Bernadette Linn Hon-ho switched to a tougher tone on resuming land in locations forming part of the future metropolis, the announcement of the transport masterplan may help persuade developers to commit to investing in the development of the metropolis - just in case developers were still worried about the property market and future transport layout of the area.

The situation may be clearer before the end of this month when the deadline will expire for developers to accept updated land premium demands put forward by the government in relation to six plots in Fanling and Kwu Tung.

The administration is undoubtedly pressing ahead with the building of the Northern Metropolis to integrate with the Greater Bay Area.

The Lantau reclamation and other places in the southern half are no longer the focus.

So when Lee presents his policy address in 2024, will the mega reclamation off Lantau not be mentioned at all?

It may be recalled that when former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa stopped mentioning his ambitious housing program to provide 85,000 units a year, he confessed that the silence served as proof that he had given up on the housing target.

If the mega reclamation receives no further mention, can the same assumption be made?