Tamar's political fallout

With the endorsement of Democratic Party lawmakers, the government's funding request for its Tamar redevelopment project has been approved by the Legislative Council.

Admittedly, this is a controversial issue, and even the pro-government Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong has its reservations. But it is too late to haggle and procrastinate.

This valuable piece of land has been vacant since the handover. To most Hongkongers, that has been an inexcusable waste, and even a bad decision would be better than none at all. They would rather have Tamar developed than converted into an open square, as the Civic Party suggested.

Traffic problems will be inevitable at the new development. But, had the site been developed commercially, the population density would have been higher, and the congestion problem only worse.

All that could be done was to add restrictions, such as height limits - and that is what the more responsible politicians from all the major parties sought to do. And, to a certain extent, the government obliged them. That would have been impossible with a commercial development.

Now these legislators can tell their constituents that, through their efforts, the public interest has been served. This is an example of good, give-and-take democratic practice, which one hopes will set a precedent for future politicians.

The Civic Party got its reward, too. It has shown clearly that it is the champion of hardcore dissidents, who will support it in the next elections. The trouble is that there are not enough diehards in this city to get the party anywhere.