Q Should the government press ahead with its super-jail plan? I read with alarm your recent coverage of the South Lantau super-prison project, reporting that the public consultation phase is about to end unnoticed, save for the efforts of the Living Islands Movement. As a resident of Discovery Bay and a keen yachtsman, I fear that the impact of the reclamation, the prison and its associated bridge will have a huge impact on our use of local waters. South Lantau is an area of natural beauty and is a popular recreation area. The much cheaper alternative, Kong Nga Po near the border, is not being considered I understand because 'the area could be used to boost economic integration with the mainland in the future'. This argument is disingenuous at best and ignores the value of some of our most attractive natural resources - Hong Kong's islands. James Fernie, Discovery Bay How about building the super-prison in Guangdong province? There will be much more suitable sites there to select from cost, environmental and social points of view. It is cheaper to buy land to develop the facility and certainly cheaper to run. Every business is moving manufacturing and services to the mainland, when and where it makes dollars and sense - why not also the public sector? There will be legal issues, but I don't see why those cannot be resolved. Hans Joachim Isler, Central Hong Kong authorities seem to have drastically undervalued their marine real estate. I am a Hong Kong resident but hailing from Auckland, New Zealand, where our Hauraki Gulf is seen as one of the world's greatest maritime parks, one which supports all kinds of tourism, recreation sports, and commercial ventures, with balanced real estate and tourist developments on some of the islands. Most of the other islands are national parks and wildlife reserves. In New Zealand, we have recognised the value of our coastal real estate in both commercial and heritage terms. I believe we are proactively striking the balance - which enhances the total value of the whole - with the marine park increasing the value of the real estate and the high value of the real estate enhancing the value of the national park as a 'treasure of the people'. If any of the planners would care to actually visit Sunshine Island and Hei Ling Chau and consider the value they create for Discovery Bay resort real estate prices and the potential for development along the coast of Lantau via Mui Wo, they may just understand what I am talking about. To proceed with the super-prison concept in this location is sheer madness. It is an irresponsible destruction of value for existing and potential landowners and the public, who can benefit from a balanced mix of commercial and private real estate and tourist-based development in future. The obvious choice for such a prison is the New Territories, far away from high-priced residential areas and certainly not in an area of natural beauty and potential marine coastal development. Ken Wiltshire, Wan Chai Complete insanity. If this project goes ahead, the first people to be locked up in it should be the planners themselves. Even without the environmental issues surrounding the project, which are bad enough, surely the cost of the road link alone should flag this as a pointless waste of money that could be better spent on programmes to deal with crime. Why on earth build a road link at great expense for the sake of a few prisoners and their guards. If the planner who thought this one up sees it as a modern Alcatraz with the possibility of becoming a new tourist destination (its infamy based on it being a white elephant), once it has outgrown its usefulness, there's no need for a road link at all. Once again, certain people with too much time on their hands and the need to justify their jobs have been allowed to run amok. Name and address supplied I cannot believe that the government is going to proceed with the location of the super-prison at Lantau Island. When are the people of Hong Kong going to realise that the environment is the most precious resource that they have. The impact on the area, combined with the Disney site, will be catastrophic, destroying the natural beauty and habitat for wildlife, all for the sake of an expensive contract to make more mess. Surely unused land in the New Territories would be more appropriate. Trevor Gribble, Edinburgh On other matters ... Regarding L. Nik's letter, published on Saturday, on the difficulty accessing the airwaves at RTHK, Radio 3 encourages listeners to take part in the discussion of public policy and other issues on our programme Backchat, Monday to Friday, 8.30am. The programme serves as a daily, open forum for discussion. Does every caller get on the air every time? No. Occasionally, there are time and other physical constraints (lines busy with other guests or callers), but more importantly, we reserve the right to edit the programme. Exercising editorial independence carries with it responsibility and risk, which we accept. But most people get on air. As regular listeners know, we have even let callers sing self-penned political songs on air. Backchat is noted as an open platform for freewheeling discussion; it will stay that way. Bryan Curtis, head, RTHK Radio 3 Clarification: a letter from the KCRC published yesterday in Talkback contained a sub-editing error. The published letter said updated information about train services delays is available on the internet. This is incorrect. The information is only provided to electronic media such as radio and television. We regret the error. Talkback editor
