Foundation to teach harbour preservation
A foundation will be set up to educate future generations about the need to preserve Victoria Harbour, an anti-reclamation group announced yesterday.
Kwok Ka-ki, convenor of the Action Group on Protection of Victoria Harbour, said the foundation would be launched during a rally on May 2.
The news comes after the Society for Protection of the Harbour said it would not appeal the March 10 court ruling that supported the chief executive's powers in the planning process paving the way for the controversial Central reclamation project to continue.
At the May 2 protest, organisers are expecting thousands of people to hold up a blue ribbon to form a human chain along the harbour front.
Dr Kwok yesterday said the ribbon would stretch for 1.6km and would line the waterfront from Central to Wan Chai.
His group is waiting for a reply from Guinness World Records on whether it will attend the event and consider it for an entry.
'This blue ribbon will show to the government and the world the determination of the people of Hong Kong in protecting the harbour,' he said.
'The people of Hong Kong should not gag their voice and see their harbour destroyed by the reclamation.'
Dr Kwok also said the rally presented an opportunity to raise money for the independent foundation.
The group's lawyer, Fred Ho, said it was in the process of gaining Inland Revenue Department approval and registering a company for the foundation.
Dr Kwok said the foundation would concentrate on educating the younger generation.
'The harbour belongs to them more than to us,' he said. 'They are the generation who will witness the changes.'
Dr Kwok said the Action Group on Protection of Victoria Harbour was still urging the government to seek other means besides the controversial Central-Wan Chai bypass to ease traffic congestion.
The government also needed to conduct a 'proper' and wide-ranging public consultation on reclamation and stop all works until it was completed, he said.
