LCQ19 : Govt aims for a more flexible Dongjiang water supply

Following is a question by the Hon Ho Chung-tai and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, at the Legislative Council meeting today (April 21) :


Question:

It has been reported that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Guangdong Provincial Government have reached a consensus in principle on the supply of Dongjiang water to Hong Kong.  A water supply system with a limited degree of flexibility will be introduced under the new water supply agreement.  In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) when the above system will be implemented, of the minimum amount (in cubic metres) of Dongjiang water that the Hong Kong authorities will be required to purchase under the system, and how the system compares to the current one;

(b) of the estimated amount of savings in expenditure that can be achieved annually from the implementation of the flexible water supply system, and how such savings will be put to use; and

(c) whether it will continue to negotiate for greater flexibility in the water supply system; if so, of the details?


Reply:

Madam President,

(a) The agreement on the supply of Dongjiang water is still under negotiation and has not been finalised yet.  Therefore, details of the agreement, including the implementation schedule and supply quantities, are not available at the moment.

(b) As the new agreement on the supply of Dongjiang water has yet to be finalised, it is not possible to estimate at this stage the amount of savings in expenditure resulting from the new agreement.

(c) The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government will continue to negotiate for greater flexibility in the water supply system, taking into consideration the overall interests of Hong Kong.  Details of the water supply agreement will be released once they are finalised.

Although the governments of the Guangdong Province and Hong Kong cannot alter the agreed quantity of Dongjiang water supply and the price unilaterally, both parties have agreed to a certain reduction in the volume of Dongjiang water supplied to Hong Kong under the existing supply agreement in the past several years.  For example, the average annual supply in 2002 and 2003 is in the order of 750 million cubic metres (mcm) which is about 50 mcm less than the agreed quantities.


Ends/Wednesday, April 21, 2004
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