Hong Kong development chief admits he knew nothing about plans for high-speed rail extension linking proposed Lantau metropolis to Shenzhen economic zone in Qianhai
- Secretary for Development Michael Wong says he only learned about the scheme from news reports on Friday
- Authorities in Qianhai have not officially revealed the move, but plans for it have been on display at an exhibition centre there
“I only learned about it when it was revealed in the news on Friday,” Michael Wong Wai-lun said. “I respect the ideas held by Qianhai or other places near Hong Kong.”
Asked if he felt the city’s autonomy in urban planning had been eroded, the secretary for development said: “I don’t think other places will affect us.”
The authorities in Qianhai, a 15 sq km pilot development zone in Shenzhen, have not officially revealed the move, but plans for it have been on display on the ground floor of an exhibition centre there.
Wong said the Hong Kong government did not have a timetable for developing the rail link extension that Qianhai had mapped out.
“The basis of Hong Kong’s railway planning is in the Railway Development Strategy 2014 … the rail link you mentioned is not in there,” he said.
Under the strategy, seven new lines, extensions and stations would be completed by 2031, including extending the Tung Chung line to a new station at Tung Chung West on Lantau Island.
There was also no mention of a rail extension to Qianhai in the Lantau Tomorrow Vision.
The scheme seeks to build 1,700 hectares of artificial islands – an area equivalent to one-third of Kowloon – in the waters around Kau Yi Chau and Hei Ling Chau between Lantau and Hong Kong Island. It will include near-shore reclamation and a cross-sea transport network linking the islands to Lantau, Tuen Mun and Hong Kong Island.
The price tag of HK$642 billion – a sum equivalent to the entire GDP of Ethiopia in 2017 – has been heavily disputed, as it is only the estimated budget for the first stage of the plan, which includes 1,000 hectares of artificial islands around Kau Yi Chau, near-shore reclamation and part of the transport network. Opponents fear the plan will drain the city’s financial reserves, currently above HK$1.1 trillion.
Wong also said on Saturday the plan would still be profitable with only 30 per cent of the residential land for private housing.
“If we use the lower bound, which is around 45,000 private flats on the artificial island off Kau Yi Chau, our calculation results in a return of between HK$700 billion and HK$800 billion,” Wong said.
“In this calculation, we have factored in that 70 per cent of the total of 150,000 to 260,000 residential units in Kau Yi Chau will be public housing flats.”
