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THE future of a military welfare and recreation club dating from the Vietnam War is in doubt due to government reclamation plans and the lack of an agreement between China and the United States over military visits.

The Fleet Arcade near Fenwick Pier in Wan Chai is leased by the Servicemen's Guide Association for HK$1 a year because of the non-profit making benefits it provides for visiting servicemen from United Nations countries.

But doubts over military visits after June 1997, especially by the biggest users - the Americans - is casting a shadow over the future of the arcade itself.

The US Navy makes about 80 visits a year amounting to 50,000 sailors, who inject around US$300 million (HK$2.32 billion) into the economy. But Beijing is understood to be concerned about the frequency with which US ships dock in the territory.

Without the visiting military, the arcade would have no reason to operate on a non-profit making basis and would therefore lose the privilege of a nominal rent.

The three-storey arcade is also under threat from possible redevelopment when the Wan Chai reclamation takes shape.

If so, the Government would be unlikely to find alternative premises to rent at HK$1 without the agreement over future visits.

Servicemen's Guide Association general secretary Paul Curley said the arcade's short-term lease expired in April 1997.

'We fully intend to apply for renewal and have no reason to believe it would not be granted,' he said.

A spokesman for the Lands Department said the lease would be renewable on a quarter-year basis from April 1997 on the same terms, but only if the association continued as a non-profit making organisation.

The arcade services include a welfare office, a chaplain, a post office, a credit union, a tailor, a cinema, a hairdresser and a variety of shops open to everyone, as well as a recreational area.

  Mr Curley stressed its main benefit for visiting servicemen was its spiritual and practical support.

'Most of the servicemen who come to Hong Kong are just 19-or 20-year-old kids, possibly on their first trip away from home,' he said.

'The association's mission is to give spiritual guidance and to provide a place where servicemen know they are not going to get ripped off and can purchase from reliable vendors.' 



Future of club for servicemen in doubt