Opinion | Kai Tak’s transport woes a nightmare of government’s own making

Lack of planning is why the cruise terminal has just one road accessing it, the neighbourhood has no monorail and public transport is simply inadequate

With the Kai Tak Sports Park expected to bring in more crowds next year, the government has to get its act together or brace for disaster

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KMB Bus staff give directions to arriving passengers from the cruise ship “Spectrum of the Sea” at Kai Tak Cruise Terminal on August 19. Photo: Edmond So

Published: 9:30am, 4 Dec 2023

Lawmakers heaped criticism on officials last week over failures in managing the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal. Starry Lee Wai-king – Hong Kong’s sole member in China’s top legislative body, the National People’s Congress – put the blame squarely on Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung Yun-hung.

Lee did not mince her words: “I think you have handled the entire cruise terminal and the facilities around it quite poorly since you took office.” At the Legislative Council panel meeting on economic development, she accused the government of failing to make good use of the taxpayer money invested in the Kai Tak development project, pointing to the lack of adequate transport for residents.

Others joined in the chorus. It seems the summer fiasco over chaotic transport arrangements at the cruise terminal is still fresh in many minds. The images of eager travellers stranded, unable to venture into the city, were bad news for Hong Kong. As a city consistently ranked at the top for the connectivity, efficiency, accessibility and affordability of its public transport system, it was an epic failure.

The moving of the city’s airport from Kai Tak 25 years ago also produced failures of comparable proportions. The highly touted new airport at Chek Lap Kok had a disastrous start. Planes were stranded on the runway for several hours due to a shortage of ground staff and malfunctioning facilities. Cargo was stranded on the tarmac for days. Air conditioning failed to work and there was no water in the toilets. Embarrassingly, the government had to reopen Kai Tak airport temporarily to handle cargo.

One would think that after such a humiliating lesson, we would learn to simply do better. Perhaps too much time has passed, but that’s no excuse.

And the Kai Tak cruise terminal fiasco is just the tip of the iceberg. From lawmakers’ grilling of officials last week, it’s clear this is a lot more than just a taxi queue issue.

Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung (right) visits the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal on August 9, when a free shuttle bus service was launched amid a transport crunch. The service was, however, cancelled at the end of the month. Photo: Sam Tsang

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