Consider getting businesses involved in Hong Kong waterfront, development minister Michael Wong says
- Development chief Michael Wong says public-private partnerships should be on the table
- He also rejects fears that government could be accused of collusion
Working with the private sector to revitalise Hong Kong’s prized waterfront is worth considering, the city’s development chief said on Thursday, insisting the government need not fear accusations of collusion.
Secretary for Development Michael Wong Wai-lun made the remarks after the government last month pledged to give HK$6 billion towards extending and enhancing promenades on both sides of Victoria Harbour. The work – intended to make the waterfront interconnected – involves nine projects to be carried out over the next decade.
Wong said the government was open to collaborating with the private sector on the nine projects, which would extend the harbourfront by a total of 13km.
“With these projects, we should try to be as innovative and creative as possible,” Wong said at a meeting with the Harbourfront Commission, a watchdog supported by the Development Bureau.
“The government will be 100 per cent behind such ideas.”
Wong added that the government should not fear accusations of colluding with businesses.
“We don’t mind if there is pressure from any [accusations of] government-business collusion. The government will step up to the plate and make clear explanations,” he said.
We don’t mind if there is pressure from any [accusations of] government-business collusion. The government will step up to the plate and make clear explanations
“[The harbourfront] will not be for profit; these will not be real estate development projects.”
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department has been accused of excessive management of major sections of the city’s developed harbourfront. This was largely because the department is bound by what critics say is an outdated law, the Pleasure Grounds Regulation, which prohibits various activities, ranging from sitting on grass to walking dogs.
Commission members have raised the need to harness the private sector’s creativity and flexibility to make public spaces along the water’s edge in Hong Kong more fun and enjoyable.
One member, Paul Zimmerman, urged members to come to a consensus on potential public-private models for managing the waterfront.
“I think we have to give some real detailed consideration about what it means to get the private sector involved and how we’re going to do it in a way that is going to be successful in a sustainable way,” Zimmerman said.
He said it was important to allow flexibility in contracts so the government would have a certain degree of control over private partners and could replace them if necessary.
“We should be able to adapt and adopt contracts as needed, to the public aspirations or to circumstances of the time in the future which we cannot predict,” he said.
On Thursday, Rosalind Cheung Man-yee, the Development Bureau’s principal assistant secretary for the harbour, said she hoped the extension would adhere to five main principles: using freed-up harbourfront areas efficiently; learning from the creativity and expertise of the private sector; being water-friendly; allowing full public participation; and developing a sustainable and green harbourfront.
About 38km of the city’s 73km total coastline has now been identified for or is already open as promenades. The remaining sections are natural coasts or already developed for port facilities and private residential estates.
Of the nine projects in the HK$6 billion extension, six are on Hong Kong Island: five prime sites spanning 16 hectares in Wan Chai after the completion of the Central-Wan Chai Bypass; and a 2km boardwalk linking North Point to Quarry Bay.
The remaining three, in Kowloon, are a 15-hectare public park in Kai Tak – a major redevelopment area on the former airport site – and promenades in Cha Kwo Ling and Tsuen Wan.
Officials are mulling a partnership with NGOs running water sports facilities to manage a proposed water sports hub at the Wan Chai basin, according to a government source.
Another potential job for public-private collaboration would be transforming an old bus interchange in Hung Hom into a public park.
