Keep our precious waterfront free from sterile retail shops targeting tourists

In July 2008, in reply to a letter I had written about the proposed development of a piazza in Tsim Sha Tsui, Winifred Chung, for the commissioner for tourism, stated that according 'to the existing land use restrictions and the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines respectively, commercial use is not permitted at this district open space'. She said that 'we have no intention of constructing any shopping mall at the site'.

Flash forward to last month ('Winning piazza plan sent back to the drawing board', August 26), and we find included in the winning design three bus shelters to 'be fitted with a glass cover under which shops and restaurants would be housed'.

Like a tiger that never changes its stripes, the Tourism Commission is fixated on retail. It cannot conceive of any plan that does not revolve around shops.

The responses to the two gazettes on the future of the piazza have never been made public, but that of June, 2009, received more than 5,000 representations, and the one in October last year more than 13,000. I believe that local people who use the Star Ferry as an efficient and economical public transport system to cross the harbour all echoed the same refrain. All they want to see when they get off the Star Ferry is that KMB double-decker waiting in front to whisk them off to their destination.

According to its website, the job of the commission is to enhance our tourism facilities and support the development of new attractions and events. It has no mandate to engage in decisions regarding public transport and heritage conservation. The appalling transformation of the former marine police headquarters into the sterile 1881 Heritage mall demonstrated its lack of judgment from both a heritage and a fiscal perspective.

Wan Chai pier will be torn down soon. The Tsim Sha Tsui ferry terminal will be the only original pier still in operation. The Star Ferry is Hong Kong's most beloved icon and a must-see for all tourists, so the pier should be declared a public monument with full protection and be carefully renovated. As for plans to expand retail facilities at the terminal, this is just a sneaky ploy on the part of The Wharf Holdings to extend its Harbour City empire.