My Take | Someone must make sure the numbers add up

From the cross-border bridge to the scheme to attract hi-tech talent, government projections are once again way off and it is time an independent reviewer was brought in

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Hong Kong might need an independent statistical bureau, such as the government auditor, to review all key government projections that involve large-scale planning and lots of money. Photo: Joshua Lee

Published: 5:02am, 21 Jun 2018Updated: 5:31pm, 3 Jul 2018

Can we ever trust our government with its projections? Two news stories caught my attention.

● Traffic on the HK$120 billion Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge may be up to 26 per cent less than originally estimated by 2030.

● Officials have admitted the goal of recruiting 1,000 workers in the hi-tech sector during the first year of a pilot immigration scheme to attract talent is pure guesswork.

Under questioning, the Innovation and Technology Bureau admitted no formal study was conducted, and the figure of 1,000 was little better than something pulled out of a hat. At least the immigration scheme could not do much damage even if it failed.

You can’t say the same about the cross-border bridge, which has long been advertised as an essential infrastructure in integrating with the mainland.

The latest traffic projection is that there will be 29,100 vehicles and 126,000 passengers per day by 2030, which are respectively down 12 per cent and 26 per cent from 33,100 and 171,800 from a previous study.

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