Following is a question by the Hon Wong Sing-chi and a reply by the Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands, Mr Michael Suen, in the Legislative Council today (May 19):
Question:
A number of mandatory requirements have been stipulated in the Invitation For Proposals for the development of the West Kowloon Cultural District, including the provision of a "canopy" covering at least 55% of the Development Area. However, an official of the Territory Development Department revealed last month that the provision of the canopy or not would ultimately depend on whether its construction cost, as quoted in the received proposals, was too high, hence making it financially not viable. Regarding the development project, will the Government inform this Council:
(a)whether it has formulated contingency plans to tackle the scenario that construction of the canopy involves great technical difficulties or is too costly; if so, of the details of the plans; if not, the reasons for that;
(b)whether it has assessed, in case it is eventually decided that the canopy will not be provided, if the land earmarked for commercial uses can be sold in divided lots by auctions, with a view to generating more revenue; if so, of the assessment results; and
(c)whether, in view of the recent improvement in its financial position, it will consider dropping the approach of awarding the construction and operation of the entire project to a single developer, and providing the relevant cultural facilities with government funding; if so, of the progress of its consideration; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
My response to the three parts of the question is as follows :
(a) The canopy is a key feature of the winning design of the open competition on concept plan for the development of the West Kowloon Cultural District. The canopy links up the various arts and cultural facilities in the development area and will also become a new and distinct architectural icon of Hong Kong and a tourist attraction. Besides, the canopy has many advantages and serves many useful purposes. It will create an open and comfortable environment for the outdoor arts and cultural facilities and rest areas, so that enjoyment of those facilities by the public would not be affected by weather conditions. That is why the Government has included the canopy as a mandatory requirement in its Invitation for Proposals. The Invitation for Proposals also states that any proposal which does not meet all the mandatory requirements will not be considered.
The Government has conducted an assessment of the design of the canopy and consulted the professional bodies. The Government considers that technically speaking there are no particular problems in constructing the canopy. Interested potential proponents have not indicated to the Government that constructing the canopy would give rise to great technical difficulties. As to the actual construction cost of the canopy, we need to study proponents' proposals before we can assess the construction cost of the canopy and the overall financial plan of the proposals. At this stage, the Government does not consider that the design of the canopy and its financial aspects would affect the viability of the development project. In view of the above consideration, the Government considers that there is no need to make any contingency plans.
(b) Part 2 of the Hon. Wong Sing-chi's question is a hypothetical question. I would like to reaffirm here that the canopy design is a distinctive and major feature of the integrated design of the West Kowloon Cultural District development. The Government does not consider that the design of the canopy and its financial aspects will affect the viability of the project. Proponents must include the canopy design in their proposals, otherwise they will not be considered by the Government.
(c) Although the Government is currently in a slightly better fiscal position comparing with that six months ago, the Government is still faced with a huge deficit which according to the latest Medium Range Forecast as included in the 2004-05 Budget will only be removed in its entirety by financial year 2008-2009. Under the circumstances, the prospect of securing public funds of the size required for providing these facilities without adversely affecting the achievement of the Government fiscal objectives is remote. As stated by the Chief Secretary for Administration in his reply to an oral question raised in the Legislative Council in November last year, dividing the project into smaller packages and inviting tenders would first require the Government to draw up a master layout plan based on uncertain assumptions of what would be commercially viable. At the same time, the Government has to tender out different construction contracts. The facilities will be designed and built by different contractors, making it very difficult for the different designs to match with each other. The Government would also have to allocate substantial resources to project management and, in due course, venue operation on a long term basis. This approach is not in line with the Government's policy in promoting serving the community by using the private sector. The opportunity to make use of the private sector's financial and professional strength to develop the West Kowloon Cultural District as a self-financing project and deliver high standard arts and cultural and commercial facilities would be lost. The Government is therefore taking forward this cultural project in a single package through the Invitation for Proposals.
Ends/Wednesday, May 19, 2004
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