Source:
https://scmp.com/comment/letters/article/2181003/hong-kong-has-no-land-shortage-just-shortage-courage-and-vision Letters
Hong Kong has no land shortage, just a shortage of courage and vision
- We should hold this government to account, before it starts spending hundreds of billions of our hard-earned money at the expense of our future
Potential buyers inspect property plans of the latest batch of government-subsidised housing under the Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Scheme, at the sales office in Kwun Tong on December 21. Photo: Felix Wong
Hong Kong’s whole discussion on land shortage is based on nothing. There is no land shortage, there is only a lack of courage on the part of our government.
Developers have a land bank that is impossible to imagine. The rural bodies claim land that would ease housing problems immediately, since the infrastructure already exists there. We could restructure old industrial buildings into housing units. We should press Beijing to give up People’s Liberation Army facilities to ease our housing shortage. We should also make use of our waters, which have greater capacity than our land. Decommissioned cruise ships could be used for housing.
The easy way out for a government without courage, and in obvious collusion with vested interests, is to promote the Lantau Tomorrow Vision.
There is no land shortage, what we are dealing with is a shortage of courage and vision.
We should hold this government to account, before it starts spending hundreds of billions of our hard-earned money at the expense of our future.
The government has proven to be great at white elephant projects, such as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge and the high-speed rail, but has failed miserably to focus on the problems at hand.
Courage and vision is what people judge a government by. Kowtowing to vested interests and Beijing will certainly not encourage the can-do spirit.
Peter den Hartog, Tuen Mun