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LCQ13: Lantau Tomorrow Vision

Question:

     It is learnt that the Government has yet to confirm the commencement date of the reclamation project for the Kau Yi Chau Artificial Islands under the Lantau Tomorrow Vision. According to a paper submitted by the Government to the Panel on Development of this Council on December ‍29, 2022, the Government's target was to commence the reclamation works for the Artificial Islands at the end of 2025. The Government subsequently indicated that the reclamation works "would be slightly deferred". At the meeting of the Panel on Development of this Council on October 22 last year, the Secretary for Development advised that hopefully the reclamation works could commence within the current term of the Government (i.e. by June 30, 2027). On the 7th of last month, the Secretary for Development remarked that at present there was no need to fix a date for the commencement of the reclamation works; while a commentary article "The Lantau Tomorrow Vision is yesterday's dream" published on the Ta Kung Wen Wei website on the same day pointed out that the Government had no choice but to slow down the pace of creating artificial land by reclamation under the Lantau Tomorrow Vision or even shelve the development plan, highlighting that the Lantau Tomorrow Vision has become "a thing of the past". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) as there are views that the Government has been procrastinating on the commencement date of the works for the Lantau Tomorrow Vision, and the subsequent remark made by the Secretary for Development that at present there is no need to fix a date for the commencement of the reclamation works is entirely different from the remark in the commentary article "The Lantau Tomorrow Vision is yesterday's dream" on the Ta Kung Wen Wei website, of the latest update of the project;
      
(2) whether the principal officials in charge of the Lantau Tomorrow Vision will formally and publicly give an account of the retention or otherwise of the project; and

(3) given that the aforesaid commentary article has highlighted that "the Lantau Tomorrow Vision has become a thing of the past", of the detailed expenditures incurred by the Government to date on the preliminary studies, design and consultancy work relating to the Lantau Tomorrow Vision; whether the Government will immediately suspend or freeze such work in order to minimise unnecessary expenditures; if so, of the estimated amount of expenditures that can be saved; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

     According to the findings of the study “Hong Kong 2030+: Towards a Planning Vision and Strategy Transcending 2030”, the target for supply of developed land in the 30 years from 2019 to 2048 is about 7 000 hectares, of which 1 000 hectares of land will come from the proposed Kau Yi Chau Artificial Islands (KYCAI) project. This 1 000 hectares of newly reclaimed land, geographically located at a strategical position, will expand the scope and capacity of the development of Hong Kong and provide transport infrastructures connecting the Northern Metropolis and Lantau Island. It helps to support Hong Kong's sustainable development in the medium to long term.

     The replies to various parts of Hon Paul Tse's questions are as follows:

(1) The article cited in this question was contributed by an individual to the relevant media. It is understood that it does not represent the position of the media, let alone the position of the Government.

(2) The KYCAI is a project necessary for Hong Kong's long-term development. The Government is taking forward the project in a steady and prudent manner, and will formulate the project implementation strategy in light of the progress of various studies of the project, as well as the priority and overall deployment of the Government's various land creation and infrastructure projects.

     The Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) submitted the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report for the reclamation part to the Environmental Protection Department on December 31 last year, with the target of completing the approval work within 2025. In addition to the EIA report for the reclamation part, the CEDD still needs to complete a series of tasks, including completing the EIA for the strategic roads and land development, and progressively commencing a series of detailed engineering studies (including formulating specific design and construction requirements for key infrastructure projects, and conducting relevant financial studies and analysis). The Government announced its forecast for the supply of developed land in the next 10 years in October last year, including 300 hectares of reclaimed land from the KYCAI project. At that time, it was expected that such land would only become available in the later stage of the decade. For such large-scale land development project, the current priority is to prudently complete the necessary preparatory work in the study and planning stages so that construction work can commence as quickly as possible at the appropriate time in the future.

     The Government has reiterated the above position in the 2024 Policy Address, the Legislative Council's Panel on Development's Policy Address briefing, media interviews for the Secretary for Development, social media, and the KYCAI project's dedicated website. When we applied for the block vote funding from the Legislative Council's Public Works Subcommittee in January this year, we also explained the contents of the detailed engineering studies to Members.
      
(3) At its meeting on December 4, 2020, the Legislative Council's Finance Committee approved a funding of $550.4 million for the ongoing planning and engineering study on the KYCAI (i.e. PWP Item No. 768CL "Studies related to artificial islands in the Central Waters") to engage a consultant to carry out the relevant study and related site investigation works for KYCAI. By the end of the 2024/2025 financial year, the CEDD projects an expenditure of about $400 million. As explained in the reply in Part (2) above, the Government is taking forward the project in a steady and prudent manner, including continuing with the statutory EIA work and necessary studies.

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