Letters | Hong Kong mega-bridge dream made sense in the ’80s, now not so much

I refer to “Trailbazer Wu sees realisation of his decades-old dream” (October 24). When Hopewell Holdings founder-chairman Gordon Wu Ying-sheung was first mooting the “mega-bridge” in the 1980s, such a connection had more relevance – as Hong Kong had the pre-eminent container port in the region.

However, our port has been steadily superseded by more convenient Chinese ports, and the Shenzhen-Zhongshan bridge now under construction will hasten our shipping decline.

I agree with Richard Harris’ views expressed in his article of October 26 (“Awe-inspiring overkill”), that this Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge makes a political rather than an economic statement. But at what cost? All for national pride and increased tourism? Meanwhile, Allan Zeman was gushing that he could reach his casino in rapid comfort (“Top Hong Kong businessman feels ‘reborn’ riding along mega bridge”, October 24). But getting gamblers to Macau’s casinos a few minutes earlier is surely not worth the HK$120 billion investment made by Hong Kong.

In the 1980s, Wu could connect the dots, as he was constructing motorways in Guangdong province. Perhaps Wu is now realising that this bridge will no longer have the traffic and economic impact that he first envisioned, because his chairman’s statement in Hopewell Holdings’ annual report for 2017-2018 dated August 22 mentions that they have divested themselves of their highway infrastructure business.