The government is reviving a plan to take the historic Queen's Pier apart and rebuild it on a new site, to make way for Phase III of the Central Reclamation project.
Reports of the decision, which comes after months of consultation, also drew criticisms that the administration was being insincere, 'withholding information' and 'misleading the public' by inflating the costs and difficulties of preserving the pier on its original site.
The demolition of Queen's Pier was put on hold following a public outcry over the demolition of the neighbouring Star Ferry pier. Lawmakers had asked the government in January to put the plan on hold and consult experts on alternatives.
But in a paper to be presented to the Legislative Council's planning, lands and works panel today, the government is to refloat its original plan of dismantling Queen's Pier piece by piece and rebuilding the historic structure on another site.
This proposal follows three meetings with expert groups including the Hong Kong Institute of Architects, the Hong Kong Institute of Engineers and the Conservancy Association, which have all been in favour of preserving the pier in situ.
Concern group Heritage Watch vowed to fight to save the pier. A member of the group, Ho Loy, criticised the government for being irresponsible and disrespecting public opinion. 'This is a big lie and it is misleading. They are trying to play up the technical aspects to confuse the public. All they have done is take all the suggestions from these groups during the consultation and twist them to make them look impossible,' she said.