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It will bring long-term benefits for the property market, says Centaline chief

Environmentalists yesterday welcomed government moves to stall three major reclamation projects.

'Finally the government is starting to make sense by cutting down on all the reclamation work,' said Winston Chu Ka-sun, chairman of the Society for the Protection of the Harbour.

Mr Chu, who has sought a judicial review to challenge the government's decision to reclaim 26 hectares of land on the Wan Chai harbour front, said the Sars outbreak had helped the administration recognise the importance of the environment.

The vice-chairwoman of the Conservancy Association, Betty Ho Siu-fong said she was glad the coastline of Western District, Tsuen Wan Bay and Sham Tseng had been spared.

'The other two projects did not gain as much attention as the one at the Western District, but I am happy to learn all the three will be put on hold,' she said.

The veteran town planner said she was not always opposed to reclamation.

'It depends on its impact to the environment and it also depends on the planning work involved, because reclamation does have the effect of creating more land and space for a community,' Ms Ho said.

'The problem of reclamation in Hong Kong is that it always involves the reclaiming of land for the construction of high-rise buildings and the planning usually fails to integrate the original community with the new land.'

Ms Ho said the southeast Kowloon project was an example of a reclamation project being essential to improving the environment of the area, given the polluted state of the nullah around the old Kai Tak airport.

The South China Morning Post reported yesterday that the government has decided to put on hold the three projects amid the sluggish property market and record budget deficit.

The projects were scheduled to create 126 hectares of land to provide housing for 114,000 people. The Western District work aroused the most attention, with residents keen to protect views of Victoria Harbour.

Meanwhile, the chairman of Centaline Property Agency, Shih Wing-ching, said the decision would have a positive impact on the property market within five years.

'One of the problems now is the imbalance between demand and supply,' Mr Shih said.

'We are facing a serious oversupply of flats.'

Property prices have dropped by more than 60 per cent since their peak in 1997.

The number of vacant flats flooding the market has reached 70,000.



Greens hail shelving of reclamation