THE post-1997 Special Administrative Region (SAR) government is set to reap more land income from the airport railway property development, with receipts of a large proportion of the premiums not expected until after the changeover.
Slippage of the airport railway projects in the absence of a Sino-British accord on the airport financing plan has forced the Government to revise the disposal programme for the 62 hectares of airport railway land, leaving more sites to be sold after 1997 than originally envisaged.
A key concern of the Chinese side on the latest financing plan is said to be excessive sales of airport-related land before the changeover.
But the Financial Secretary, Sir Hamish Macleod, yesterday dropped a strong hint of the deferred receipts as a result of the slippage of the airport railway project.
Under the Government's original funding plan, income from airport railway property development would generate $40 billion before 1997.
Experts of the Joint Liaison Group Airport Committee yesterday met for the first time to discuss the fourth financing plan that the British side sent to China in January.
Commenting on the expert session, Chief Secretary Anson Chan Fang On-sang said yesterday that the Government looked forward to a positive response from China and an early agreement so the airport projects could go ahead at full speed.
