Outgoing director of Urban Renewal Authority defends her legacy
Outgoing director says the focus must stay on project quality, not just balancing the budget
Urban Renewal Authority managing director Iris Tam Siu-ying, who was embroiled in a row with the body's chairman over its future direction, yesterday used her last working day to call for an approach to projects that focused on quality not just quantity.
Tam, who tendered her resignation in March because of "fundamental differences" with chairman Victor So Hing-woh, said she took pride in the authority's work during her eight-year tenure.
"To me, the first mission is to resolve problems in old districts and to improve the livelihood of people. Whether a project will make a profit or not shouldn't be the first priority," she said.
Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah last year ordered the cash-strapped authority to carry out a value-for-money audit on its structure and operations.
"The authority [under my management] has been using resources effectively," Tam said. "But apart from quantity, we should also pay attention to quality and caring for displaced residents."
While the existing urban- renewal strategy says the authority should be self-financing in the long run, Tam said some loss-making projects were worth going ahead with. She added that as long as the authority was financially prudent in its decision-making, the government was justified in offering further assistance, such as by injecting money or granting it land.
The authority recorded a HK$2.3 billion deficit in 2013/14, its first loss in five years. It has gone into deficit only twice in the past - in 2004 and 2009 - and Tam noted that it had recovered from both those deficits.
To save money, the authority has considered scaling back the conservation plan for the Central Market, which is now budgeted at HK$1.5 billion. Tam said she agreed with the plan.
There has also been speculation that the authority might contract out some projects, to save resources and speed up redevelopment. But Tam expressed worries in an email sent earlier to all staff that the authority's social mission could be diminished by it becoming purely a developer.
The government has so far not expressed any interest in offering financial assistance.
Tam said she had no regrets about disclosing her conflicts with So.
"I did not intend to undermine the authority's image," she said. "I spoke because I support it [the authority's existing values and approach]."