Hong Kong's harbourfront body set to scrap one-off injection of funds
After arts hub storm, authority that will oversee waterfront projects is likely to seek cash injections as needed rather than a one-off payment
A proposed one-off massive grant to finance harbourfront projects is likely to be dumped to avoid controversy in the future.
Under a new model being considered, the future harbourfront authority would seek funding from lawmakers as needed for major waterfront projects.
"It would be a more sensible approach, learning from the West Kowloon [arts hub] experience," a source close to the Harbourfront Commission said.
The commission, whose members are officials and urban planning professionals, originally proposed injecting billions of dollars into the powerful statutory authority for waterfront projects, a similar model to the arts hub authority.
But the West Kowloon authority, which received HK$21.6 billion in 2008, now faces a major headache as it was forced to ask lawmakers for more cash early this month.
While lawmakers said the authority's budget was running out of control, the surge in construction costs, including HK$23 billion for a basement, also forced the authority to postpone the construction of some major venues.