Auditor enters row over Cheung Kong project
A government auditor is looking at the controversy surrounding a Cheung Kong (Holdings) project.
The Audit Commission opened a file on the former Marine Police headquarters after the South China Morning Post reported a 1,310 square metre discrepancy in floor space between a pre-tender estimate and the actual space available to Cheung Kong after winning the project.
Calling it a case of public interest, the commission will contact land officials for information on the 1881 Heritage development.
Edmond Chan Hei-shing, senior auditor, said: 'We don't rule out that inaccuracy in tender information may affect tendering results.'
Although he said it was too early to decide whether there would be an investigation, Secretary for Development Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor is likely to face a hostile legislature, possibly from members of the pan-democrat camp, in two weeks.
Democratic Party legislator Lee Wing-tat said the party would use party chief Albert Ho Chun-yan's time slot for asking questions on December 8 to demand an answer from the government.
The government did not survey the exact size of the former Marine Police headquarters when the property was sold to Li Ka-shing's flagship company Cheung Kong in 2003.
Instead, officials relied on estimates based on a consultant's report commissioned by the Planning Department, Lam said on Tuesday, responding to the Post article.
Cheung Kong gained an unexpected bonus in its redevelopment of the historic building in Tsim Sha Tsui: an extra 1,310 square metres of valuable floor space not counted in the planning brief or brief to the Legislative Council before tender.
When Cheung Kong subsidiary Flying Snow won the tender by paying HK$352.8 million to revitalise the abandoned Grade I monument, the floor space in the existing building was estimated at 4,300 square metres.
But building plans displayed for public inspection after the project's completion show the existing building contains 5,610 square metres.
Cheung Kong paid HK$94.5 million in March last year for 200 square metres of extra floor space from new construction during the project.
Lam reiterated that Cheung Kong's gain did not mean it owed the government money.
'This was a technical amendment based on a detailed survey, reflecting the actual gross floor area of those historic buildings.'
The Development Bureau said in a statement issued after Lam made her comments that no additional premium could be levied on such a technical rectification.
Lee said: 'Obviously, the Lands Department did not do what it should do. Government surveyors should have no difficulty giving an accurate account of the floor area.'
