In response to the report on the Phase I study of the Legislative Council's Subcommittee on West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD) Development released today (July 6), a Government spokesman said:
"We appreciate the effort of the subcommittee in studying the development of the WKCD. The views of the subcommittee are very important.
In particular, we welcome the subcommittee's recognition of Hong Kong's capability to develop an integrated arts, cultural and entertainment district, and the overwhelming support from the community for the development of such a district.
On the mode of development, we note the concerns of the public and the subcommittee on the single development approach. We also note the subcommittee's recommendations that an overseeing authority for the development of the WKCD should be set up and that there should be consultation with the public on the mode of development and implementation strategy. The public consultation exercise has just been completed. We will carefully consider the views of the subcommittee and the public views received during the public consultation in deciding the way forward.
In developing the WKCD project, we have adopted the public private partnership (PPP) approach which allows us to bring in the private sector's financial resources, commercial knowledge and expertise. We intend to foster a partnership between the business sector and the arts and cultural sector in the promotion of the arts. It should be emphasised that the development process of the WKCD complies fully with the guiding principles set out in the 'Introductory Guide to Public Private Partnerships' issued by the Efficiency Unit. The guide states that there is no need to construct a public sector comparator when a project is financially free-standing, as is the case with the WKCD.
Regarding the subcommittee's recommendation on the role of the Executive Council in the WKCD development, we would like to point out that we have made submissions to and sought approval from the Executive Council in the development of the WKCD. Before issuing the Invitation for Proposals and finalising the mode of development, we made a submission to the Executive Council for discussion. Going forward, we will continue to do so at various stages, including seeking the Executive Council's prior approval for the execution of the provisional agreement and the project agreement.
We wish to reiterate that the development of the WKCD is in line with our established cultural policy, as outlined in the Culture and Heritage Commission Policy Recommendation Report. We will continue to adopt the principle of 'partnership' and ensure the implementation of the WKCD project is 'people-oriented' and 'community-driven'. In addition, based on previous studies and consultations, we believe the proposed arts and cultural facilities are the ones most wanted in Hong Kong.
We have briefed Legislative Council Members on the progress made at every key stage of the project and will continue to do so. We will also continue to listen to the public's views on the development of the project. At the end of the day, the development of the WKCD project hinges on the wishes of the community."
Ends/Wednesday, July 6, 2005
Issued at HKT 18:58
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