Supplementary to Question No. 9. in LegCo meeting on 14.1.87.
Mr. Peter POON:
Sir, in order to ease the pressure on
Government's financial planning and other resources, can the
Secretary for Transport advise this Council whether Government has
considered widening the scope of privatisation, for instance, in
road construction bearing in mind the good example of the Eastern
Harbour Crossing project ?
Secretary for Transport:
Sir, Government is aware of the option
of privatisation in the construction of road projects.
There are
obvious advantages to it; more roads could be built within the
government
same budgetary limit and secondly, it also enables works in certain
locations to be completed earlier. There are however some
limitations with this option of privatisation, as not all projects
could be privatised, otherwise our jobs could be made much easier.
Only projects which can generate sufficient income to repay capital
plus reasonable financial profit margin would attract a private
developer. Also, at the moment tolls have not been applied other
than to tunnels. At this point in time, apart from the Eastern
Harbour Crossing, the only other project under planning which is
being looked at for the purpose of privatisation is the Tate's
Cairn Tunnel.
We are investigating into the feasibility
and viability of the option. It is expected that it is going
to take three months before we can make a decision.