Heritage find could alter Kai Tak plans
Relics believed to be of a 130-year-old stone pier have been uncovered at Kai Tak during excavation for a heritage assessment of the former airport - a discovery that could lead to a change in development plans.
The Development Bureau said about 10 stone slabs had been found west of the former airport terminal building, where residential and commercial development is planned.
'Once they are confirmed as part of the pier, the government will consider possible options to preserve them,' a spokeswoman said.
The slabs, thought to be part of a structure known as the Longjin Bridge - named after the Longjin River, as the Kai Tak nullah was once called - were dug up last month by the Civil Engineering and Development Department.
A Planning Department source said the department would adopt a flexible approach in preserving the relics, including changing planned land use. 'It all depends on the scale of the preservation,' the source said.
Formed with 100 stone slats, the pier was built between 1873 and 1875. It and the Kowloon Walled City were the only places kept by the Qing dynasty after Kowloon was ceded to Britain. The pier was covered by reclamation for housing in 1920.
According to the government's preliminary engineering study for the South East Kowloon Development, the pier was destroyed by the reclamation, except the first few sections at the landward end, buried under Prince Edward Road. Most of the site now lies under the western part of the old terminal building, the study says.
Conservancy Association campaign manager Peter Li Siu-man said it should be preserved in situ and connected with the Kai Tak nullah.
