Press Release
For Immediate Release
23/2/2011
The “Government Hill Concern Group “condemns the Financial Secretary for Violating Procedures, Misleading the Public and jumping the gun regarding the “selling off” of Government Hill
In paragraph 35 of the Budget Speech today, Financial Secretary John Tsang stated that “When the new Central Government Complex at Tamar comes into operation, the Main and East Wings of the Central Government Offices will be used by the Department of Justice and the West Wing will be demolished for redevelopment into Grade A offices. We will consider the views collected from the public consultation exercise, and announce the site’s design, planning and particulars of sale later. We will continue the preparatory work to relocate departments in the three government office buildings at the Wan Chai waterfront as and when appropriate to free the land for developing more Grade A offices.”
In response to the above announcement, the “Government Hill Concern Group,” raises the following questions and concern:
1. The Development Bureau publicized the suggested plan for the use of the Government Hill last October and started to solicit public feedback. While this consultation procedure is still in progress, and reports have yet to publicize the results of such public consultation for information of the general public, the Financial Secretary chose to announce the demolition of the West Wing as a foregone decision of the Government. We would consider this as the Government breaking its own words, and an act of violation against standard government consultation procedures. Does it mean that public consultation is merely a trick to fool the public, and the Government has no intention of taking public opinion seriously?
2. In the Budget three years ago the Financial Secretary has already pledged for the relocation of the three government office buildings at Wan Chai waterfront to make room for greater supply of Grade A office spaces. However, in the Budget Speech today, this project was described as still in its “preparatory” phase. This has given us good reason to doubt that the “increase supply of Grade A office space” has not been a matter of primary concern for the Government in the past years. The Financial Secretary should be aware of the fact that the Government has long been setting aside 9.6 million square feet of office space at the three areas of Central harbourfront, the Wan Chai waterfront and West Kowloon District. The so-called “shortage of office space” is merely rhetoric on the part of the Government to pursue the selling off of the “Government Hill” to property developers, in collusion with vested interests.
3. Last week, 20 civil society groups have formally made a planning application to the Town Planning Board to designate the Government Hill as a “Special Protected Area”. Consequently, the Town Planning Board has commenced a statutory three-week public consultation process. The announcement from the Financial Secretary today has in effect deprived the Town Planning Board of its role to make an objective and fair consideration of a planning application raised by non-governmental bodies, itself an act of executive intervention against the functions and terms of references of a statutory body. We regret to see the Government taking the lead in violating procedural justice.
In fact, if the Government is really eager to ease the supply of Grade A office space, the quickest way is for the Financial Secretary to instruct the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to move to the West Wing of the Central Government Offices, and turn the expensive properties it occupies in the International Finance Centre 2 either for rent or for sale. Such arrangements will increase the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s revenue , and reduce its administrative costs at the same time, thereby saving a lot of money for taxpayers. Another option would be for the Government to postpone the demolition of the Murray Building and refit it for commercial renting for a period of say, ten years.
In conclusion, the “Government Hill Concern Group” condemns the Financial Secretary John Tsang for his violation of procedures and misleading the public. We strongly urge him to withdraw paragraph 35 of the Budget Speech, and to restate the Government’s sincere respect for public consultation and the independent evaluation and deliberation of the Town Planning Board.
Government Hill Concern Group
23/2/2011
Member organizations of the “Government Hill Concern Group” include: Central and Western Concern Group, The Professional Commons, Designing Hong Kong, Green Sense, Greeners Action, The Conservancy Association, Heritage Watch, Community Alliance for Urban Planning, Community Development Initiative, Save Our Shorelines, Lung Fu Shan Environment Concern Group, HK Redevelopment Concern Group, Heritage Hong Kong, Clear the Air, Green Environmental Health Group, South Tokwawan Concern Group, Society for Protection of the Harbour, Soho Residents Committee, Mini Spotters, World City Committee
href=”http://www.procommons.org.hk/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/DSCF9189.jpg”>
