Hong Kong Legco grants cash for Kai Tak sports park – 11 years after it was first mooted
After another long debate, and despite pan-democratic filibustering, stadium and indoor arena project gets green light
Hong Kong legislators granted the cash for the long-awaited HK$31.9 billion sports complex in Kai Tak after a six-hour debate on Friday, despite lingering doubts over the project’s pro-business financial arrangements.
At the Legislative Council’s Finance Committee meeting, 36 lawmakers green-lit the sports park, with 21 voting against it.
Despite filibustering efforts by pan-democrats, the committee’s pro-establishment majority got the government’s funding application passed.
Speaking after the passage, Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah called it “a very important step for sports development in Hong Kong”.
“We hope that the construction period will be started in the middle of next year,” he said.
The 28-hectare project on the site of the former airport will incorporate a 50,000-seat stadium, a 10,000-seat indoor arena and a 5,000-seat community sports ground, plus shopping areas and a “dining cove”.
