AIRPORT...3
All kinds of wild stories are circulating in jittery Hong Kong about the real reasons for the mega-development plans. One is that the government wants to spend all the colony's massive reserves rather than hand then over to the
Chinese. A second is that the British want to go out with a bang and leave a spectacular legacy for its last major colony.
A third is that the British want to milk the Hong Kong reserves by
ensuring that much of the money comes back via British contractors involved in
the huge development.
None of these theories holds much water, but clearly the Chinese are worried that the airport will not pay for itself and that they will be left to carry the financial burden. No one knows whether visitors will pour into Hong Kong when it is part of China on the scale they do today.
The Hong Kong government says there is no significance in the 1997 date for completion of the airport. It is pure coincidence that the first runway will be ready that year. As for the cost, they point to the fact that Hong Kong is not known for getting its sums wrong on development projects. The runaway success of the colony over the last three decades is proof.
Most importantly, the new airport will probably just about pay for itself with the proceeds from the redevelopment of the old site at Kai Tak. The
land has huge value. Not only can the old airport be built on, but all the surrounding areas can be rebuilt once they are no longer limited by height
restrictions.
For the nervous, too, it will be rather less stressful coming down at Chek Lap Kok. - GEMINI NEWS
Exchange Rate: $1 = HK$7.78
About the Author: DEREK INGRAM is Editor of Gemini News Service and was
formerly deputy editor of the London Daily Mail. He is the author of several books on the Commonwealth. He was president of the Diplomatic and Commonwealth Writers Association in Britain (1972-74) and president of the Commonwealth Journalists Association (1983-90). In 1978 he received the Commonwealth Press
Union annual award.
GN 33486
Copyright: News-Scan International Ltd (1990)
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