Does Carrie Lam’s ambitious plan to overhaul the Hong Kong government go far enough?

The revamp, if approved, would lead to a division of portfolios across bureaus on a scale not seen in 15 years

But some critics ask whether combining housing and development, for example, would better position government to tackle housing shortage

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Chief Executive Carrie Lam at the Legislative Council on Wednesday. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 10:00am, 13 Jan 2022Updated: 6:11pm, 13 Jan 2022

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has used the first meeting of the new Legislative Council term to unveil details of the biggest overhaul of the government since 2007, but critics have questioned whether the restructuring goes far enough.

The plan calls for overhauling roughly half of the existing bureaus. Separating the housing portfolio from the existing Transport and Housing Bureau is the most eye-catching suggestion of the seven-point proposal she announced.

The new bureau would then dedicate itself to resolving the housing shortage, while the Transport and Logistics Bureau would focus on infrastructure and consolidating the city’s status as an aviation hub.

Lam’s blueprint calls for increasing the number of policy bureaus from 13 to 15, one of which would be the new Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau.

A government source said the administration hoped to “get everything ready” by the end of March, so the chief executive-elect voted in at the end of that month could proceed with appointing the top talent to lead the bureaus.

“We hope to have the restructuring plan passed by Legco by May,” the insider said.

The source noted the last reshuffle was carried out 15 years ago and many key new policy areas had risen to the forefront since then, including the greater integration of Hong Kong with the rest of the nation and the Greater Bay Area plan, Beijing’s blueprint to integrate Hong Kong, Macau and nine Guangdong cities into a finance and technology powerhouse.