The transparency of the Airport Authority is in question after the statutory body refused to reveal the marketing budget for its controversial third runway plan.
Peter Lok Kung-nam, who headed the Civil Aviation Department from 1990 to 1996, said Hong Kong people had the right to know how much was being spent on marketing 'since they are using public money'.
The authority is wholly owned by the government and operates under the Airport Authority Ordinance.
Lok said the authority was jumping the gun by pouring millions of dollars into producing 21 videos that all supported the expansion plan. He estimated the production cost of the videos would 'be in the millions' because 'videos take ages to create, even just one minute'.
'[But] you are dealing with airports so this amount of money is peanuts,' he said.
'I'm not surprised ... but it's premature,' he said of the videos which feature high-profile personalities such as Cathay Pacific chief executive John Slosar, transport sector lawmaker Miriam Lau Kin-yee, Ocean Park chairman Allan Zeman, Hollywood director John Woo Yu-sen and actor and Canto-pop singer Aarif Rahman.
