THE PORT AND AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
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6. The various studies had demonstrated that there was a clear case on economic grounds for building the new airport as soon as possible; and that the right location for the airport was Chek Lap Kok. Accordingly, in October 1989, the
Governor of Hong Kong announced to the Legislative Council the Hong Kong Government's plans for the long term development of Hong Kong's port and airport the Port and Airport Development Strategy (PADS). He announced that the airport, which was scheduled to come into operation in 1997, would consist of two runways, capable of operating 24 hours per day, with a passenger handling capacity of 80 million over 3 times the maximum capacity of Kai Tak. He also announced that supporting infrastructure would be built to connect the airport with the urban areas of Hong Kong and Kowloon, including a fixed bridge crossing between North Lantau Island and Kowloon via Tsing Yi, together with road and rail links along new reclamations on both West Kowloon
and Hong Kong Island. The estimated cost of the total project was about HK$ 127 billion (£8.6 billion) at 1989 prices over the period up to 2006.
7. Since the Governor's announcement, the Hong Kong Government have redefined the scope of work and have refined the financial calculation, with the aim of identifying those aspects of the original strategy which are essential to the establishment of the new airport by 1997. The outcome of this further examination was set out in a briefing paper passed to the Legislative Council in December 1990.
A copy is attached at Annex A. In view of the local concerns about the financing of the project, the paper also sets out the Hong Kong Government's current financial position and projections of sources of revenue in the years to come.
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