It was with some degree of emotion that I read your excellent editorial of October 14 headlined, 'Fantasia island'.
It outlined precisely why anyone, be they government officials, developers or the public themselves, should stop right now and acknowledge the negative aspects of constructing a Disney theme park on Lantau Island.
Indeed, this once-green and clean 'escape' from the city has already taken a substantial environmental battering over the past few years. Witness the Big Buddha at Po Lin Monastery transforming a rural retreat into a major tourist attraction, with its attendant problem; the Lantau Link giving access to Chek Lap Kok, destroying forever the beauty and the tranquillity of the Tung Chung Valley; and the latest scheme for a North-South Lantau Highway.
Hong Kong's population alone would be insufficient to sustain an enterprise on such a grandiose scale and it would have to rely on increased tourism. Disney parks already exist in Asia, the US and Europe. Why should people come to sample what they can experience closer to home? In fact, it is those very features unique to Hong Kong that most visitors seem to appreciate and enjoy far more than we do ourselves. We just seem compelled to erode the quintessential nature of our city. Historical and cultural attractions of interest, charm and originality are obliterated in the name of progress.
Lantau desperately needs to be protected and preserved for the whole community's benefit.
After all, as it is the equivalent of a 'green lung', who would deliberately choose to sacrifice it? J. GREEN Lantau
