Government chooses worst spot in Stanley for new car park
New information makes the Transport Department’s proposal for an underground car park in the middle of Stanley even more ridiculous.
New information makes the Transport Department’s proposal for an underground car park in the middle of Stanley even more ridiculous.
We wrote last week about this proposal which is supported by the department and the Southern District Council to build a car park at the busiest traffic and pedestrian interchange in Stanley. It is opposed by many residents but supported by those who own land or shops near the proposed location since the prospect of visitors emerging from the car park or the new coach park has them salivating at the commercial prospects. However, that won’t be until after the 40 months of chaos that it will take to build it.
A lot of residents dispute the need for a new car park, arguing that Stanley only fills up at weekends and public holidays for about three months of the year, and wondering if this justifies the cost.
However, they further argue, if a car park has to be built then the most obvious location is on Carmel Road, where there is already a temporary car park on waste ground. Carmel Road runs along the back of Stanley Plaza but a car park on this waste ground would make far more sense, since it would be cheaper and would direct traffic away from the centre of Stanley reducing traffic congestion, while being within easy walking distance of Stanley’s attractions.
The new information, at least to Lai See, is from a resident who has recently consulted the government land records. They show that the temporary car park and much of the land adjoining it is government land and so could be used for a car park. The Transport Department might have to fight other departments to bring it into use as a car park rather than for more lucrative residential use.
The only conceivable rationale to build the car park in the middle of Stanley appears to be that the Transport Department has control of the site, and it is therefore easier for it to control how it is developed. While it may be convenient for the department, even a cursory assessment suggests it is possibly the worst place in Stanley to locate it.
Poor air alert
It looks like the weekend marked the end of what has been one of the longest summers for some time. By this we mean the period of the year when the winds blow from the southwest and help keep the atmospheric pollution from the Pearl River Delta at bay. In previous years the winds have changed from northeast to southwest in the first fortnight of June and turned back in late August. This year the winds changed in late May and are now starting to change having given us probably three weeks more of cleaner skies than in previous years. So now we need to brace ourselves for a return to an increase in atmospheric pollution in addition to the choking pollution of our streets. A situation which, despite all of the health warnings for all of us, particularly the elderly and children, our government makes slow and unhurrying steps towards a partial solution.
Headhunters struggling to recruit finance professionals
Headhunters are finding it difficult to hire financial professionals in a number of niche sectors, according to the efinancialcareers website. Hedge funds are trying to persuade people to relocate to Myanmar as they want people on the ground rather than parachuting them in from Hong Kong or Singapore. There is a shortage in Singapore of professionals with knowledge of Fatca, a new US regulation which all banks operating in the US have to comply with. Also, the insurance industry is looking for people with experience in digital marketing and insurance since there has been a big shift in the industry towards digital marketing.
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