The northwestern corner of Lantau Island could be home to 100,000 more people under a proposal to build more public housing flats there, Secretary of Development Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor says.
Lam, widely tipped to be the next chief secretary, said yesterday that three out of 15 Tung Chung sites earmarked for government buildings, hotels and recreation areas could be used to provide the flats under the outline zoning plan.
Lam was attending an exhibition organised by a concern group on the future of the town.
She said that with the future Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge at its doorstep, Tung Chung could grow as a 'bridgehead economy' and that its 130,000-strong population could easily swell to 230,000.
But the vice-chairwoman of the Islands District Council, Chau Chuen-heung, said the government's plan was not well-received by the community.
Chau said one of the three sites suggested by Lam as suitable for a public housing estate - Area 56 on the reclaimed waterfront - was too far from Tung Chung's town centre.
'There are insufficient transport links, recreation facilities and job opportunities supporting the area' that the government suggested could provide more than 9,000 flats in four public housing buildings, Chau said of the proposal.