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SCMP Reporter

Over the past three and a half years, the job of senior civil servant Bowen Leung Po-wing was to build and create: new land for flats, infrastructure facilities and a society with cleaner water and air.

 For the next three years or so, Mr Leung will be doing a job he once compared with visiting the the South Pole.

 As the first head of the SAR Office in Beijing, he will be expected to cultivate contacts across the country and help Hong Kong people understand the mainland better.

 'We have had more than 100 years of colonial rule and most of us do not quite understand how things operate in the mainland. Many forgot that the policy of 'one country, two systems' has two aspects . . . They have some reservations about 'one country'.

 'We need to see how our development can integrate with that of the hinterland,' said Mr Leung, 49.

 A low-key private secretary to last Governor Chris Patten between 1992 and 1995, he sat in on the most secretive meetings at Government House where the strategy of dealing with Beijing was developed.

 As head of the Planning, Environment and Lands Branch (now Bureau) in 1995, he took charge of the British team at the Land Commission to bargain with his mainland counterpart on the amount of land to be disposed each year. He also led officials to talk to Beijing on cross-border issues such as infrastructure and sewage.

 Yet he now dismisses suggestions that conflict characterised such issues in the past. 'Our co-operation has been good because we took a pragmatic approach,' he says.

 'I'll adopt the same attitude when doing my job in Beijing. There's no question of the need for a drastic change of mentality [for the new job].

 'It's a new experience. There are different interpretations of my appointment. Some said it was a demotion. Some told me it was a golden opportunity. I see it as a very challenging and interesting opportunity.'  His former job, nevertheless, has been no less challenging and controversial.

 As one of the two key officials handling land and housing supply, Mr Leung bore the brunt of sharp attacks from various sectors over the Government's housing strategy.

 'Before the handover, property prices had gone up sharply and people wanted the Government to do something . . . There's a clear change of public opinion since the financial turmoil.

 'If the Government follows the sentiments of the community and changes long-term policies, we will be criticised some years later when the market recovers and people find there's a shortage of land.

 'Very often, public opinion is driven by sentiments . . . The Government needs to set long-term targets. We are facing not just short-term problems.

  'We have to see whether there's consensus in the society and how to balance the short- and long-term needs.'  The biggest problem in the long-term, he says, is the scarcity of land. At present, the Government creates new land for development by three means: reclamation, urban renewal and redevelopment in the New Territories.

 Mr Leung maintains the present reclamation plans represent the maximum the territory can develop along the coastline. 'We have never thought of further reclamation - we agree that reclamation cannot go on without any limit,' he says.

 On the Central/Wan Chai reclamation project, he says the building of an expressway linking the Eastern Corridor would greatly relieve traffic and that a water promenade along the coast would create more recreational facilities.

 Under the present redevelopment plan at the former Kai Tak airport site, housing for 310,000 people would be provided, while the Western reclamation project will house between 110,000 and 130,000 people.

 'It's altogether 400,000 people, equivalent to a new town. Where can you put these people if you don't have these projects?  'Even if we go ahead, the land won't be available for 10 years. If we don't, there will be a very serious shortage of land.'   Mr Leung said the previous policy of relying on the private sector to redevelop old districts had not proved to be feasible. He said the Government would have to spend more money instead.

 The property crash has disrupted the urban renewal plan, he admits.

 A greater government role in urban renewal would be controversial as people may question why taxpayers' money should foot the bill that could be borne by owners and tenants.

 'The political reality,' he says, 'is that more and more people say the Government should do more. And from the environmental and safety point of view, the Government has no choice but to take up the task.

 'The media has the responsibility to educate the public. The public now only sees what the Government has failed to do. It's much easier for them to criticise than to participate directly.

 'It will be a difficult and long-term task to educate the public on the importance of environmental protection.'  Still, while the success of such lofty aims may be measured, the results of his foray in the Chinese capital will be less transparent.

 'It's likely that the achievements of my work will be intangible.

 'I'll see what I can do in the next few years,' he said.



Our man on the mainland