Hong Kong taxpayers asked to cough up further HK$17.5 billion for huge basement complex under West Kowloon Cultural District
- Legislators to demand answers at subcommittee meeting on Monday
- One member notes cash injection would make underground complex even more expensive than district’s main facilities
Lawmakers were set to demand answers on Monday as to why Hong Kong taxpayers would have to cough up another HK$17.5 billion for a huge basement complex under the city’s new cultural district.
At a meeting of the Legislative Council subcommittee monitoring the West Kowloon Cultural District, top officials from the Home Affairs Bureau and senior executives at the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority will seek the extra cash, to build the integrated basement supporting the Xiqu Centre and the Lyric Theatre complex, as well as shops, restaurants, flats and hotels.
Funding for the basement – which will include underground roads and a car park – is now entirely reliant on public cash. Previously it was to be funded partly by income from property development above ground.
Civic Party legislator Tanya Chan said that, should the request go through, the basement will have cost about HK$23 billion, making it even more expensive than the district’s main facilities, which cost HK$21.6 billion.
“Taxpayers are now paying for everything,” she said. “We will definitely vote down the funding request.”
Pro-establishment lawmaker Yiu Si-wing, who represents the tourism sector, said the government needed to come clean on what the financial burden would be for taxpayers.