THE Hong Kong Association of Freight Forwarding Agents (HAFFA) has rejected plans for a forwarding centre at Chek Lap Kok and has threatened to develop its own facility off airport grounds.
In a letter to the Provisional Airport Authority (PAA), association chairman Walther Nahr said the site would be too expensive to build and that the high construction costs would be passed on to forwarders through high rents.
Mr Nahr said HAFFA, which has more than 250 members, was 'seriously considering' approaching developers to construct a joint facility off-site to be ready for the new airport's opening, in 1997 or 1998.
'We have spoken to two of the companies that have expressed interest in the PAA's centre and we feel it is becoming a very expensive exercise,' he said.
'It is a combination of things. First, we feel that the building costs are high because of the difficulty of access to the site, and because everything would have to be barged.
'Second, there is a premium to be paid to the authority and third, there will be a lease of only 20 years.