No quick decision on logistics park
No decision will be taken any time soon on whether to build a logistics park on Lantau, even though plans for cross-border links with the island are far advanced, a senior government source said.
The Transport and Housing Bureau commissioned a feasibility study for the park in 2005. The government said a year later that the study would be ready by the first quarter of 2007, but nothing has been heard since then.
The bureau says work on the study is in its final stages. However, the government source says the current economic situation does not support building the facility on north Lantau.
'It isn't the optimal time to make a decision yet,' the source said.
Anthony Wong Foo-wah, president of the Hong Kong Logistics Association, said the government should at least release the study findings even if now is not the best time to talk about a new logistics park.
'How many years have they spent on the study? The government has no vision for the logistics industry. If you talk about building a logistics park it doesn't mean it will be there by tomorrow, but now they won't even talk about it.'
The park was conceived as a one-stop shop for logistical requirements, with freight, storage and transfer facilities. It would be an important source of air cargo - a sector which has been growing rapidly, though throughput fell 18.7 per cent year on year in November amid the global financial crisis.
The source noted that the Airport Authority would soon decide whether to proceed with plans to boost its flight-handling capacity. The government is also studying construction of the city's 10th container terminal.
