Property tycoon Nina Wang Kung Yu-sum and her Chinachem group have lost a court battle against the Government over a $550 million penalty for delays in constructing what was originally planned to be the world's tallest building.
Deputy Judge Gerard Muttrie ruled yesterday the Secretary for Justice, on behalf of the Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands, the Director of Lands and the Department of Civil Aviation, had not breached any agreement or acted in bad faith with the result of causing Chinachem to miss contractual deadlines.
Ms Wang's Chinachem Group was forced to pay a $550 million premium to the Government, plus additional charges, over the late completion of the project, planned in March 1994 as the 108-storey, 522-metre 'Nina Tower', the Court of First Instance had heard.
In April 1996, the Government fixed a statutory height limit of 324 metres on the building in Yeung Uk Road, Tsuen Wan, as the site was 19.5km from Chek Lap Kok airport. The project later was changed to scaled-down twin towers and a transport terminus and has been completed.
Ms Wang and other developers in the Chinachem Group sought unspecified damages and declarations the payout was unlawful.
But Deputy Judge Muttrie ruled it was improbable that Bowen Leung Po-wing, who was secretary for planning, environment and lands at the time, had reached an agreement with the project consultant, current Executive Council Convenor Leung Chun-ying, in a meeting on June 8, 1995, granting the group a free contract extension pending the resolution of height restrictions.
