Taskforce to consider bridge plan

A joint taskforce will meet this month to discuss how to implement the proposal to build a bridge between Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai.

Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa said it would consider the bridge's economic benefits, costs, alignment and environmental impact.

He said he was confident the bridge would benefit everyone in Hong Kong by spurring development of the Pearl River Delta and thereby boosting prosperity.

The taskforce will have nine members - three each from Macau, Hong Kong and Guangdong. The three areas will share equally the cost of preparatory work on the project.

The body will meet for the first time on August 30.

It will submit a report to the joint conference before the central government's formal approval is sought.

Mr Tung said the bridge was crucial to Hong Kong's development. But he could not say when it would be built.

Guangdong Governor Huang Huahua said he agreed the bridge should be built and preparations for doing so speeded up.

Advocates of the 30km-bridge over the Pearl river estuary say it will help consolidate Hong Kong's status as southern China's logistics hub.