A VISION OF THE FUTURE
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means setting to work as soon as possible. The planning, construction and ultimately the management of it will be put in the hands of a new Airport Authority. Early next year, I will be appointing members of a Provisional Authority which will do the preliminary work before the authority itself is set up.
Once the first runway of the new airport is open we can close Kai Tak, which is likely to be operating at full capacity by 1996. Besides the need for a modern airport to meet Hong Kong's requirements in the 21st century, closing Kai Tak will bring its own benefits. The whole of the area now used by the airport will be available for redevelopment. We will be able to lift height restrictions in parts of Kowloon. And the problem of excessive aircraft noise, which now affects some 350 000 people, will be eliminated.
The Port
The new airport will be a dramatic symbol of our determination to create an infrastructure to the highest international standards. We propose to transform our port in an equally dramatic way. The major projects we are planning will create what amounts to a completely new port on the western side of the territory. The need to create this additional capacity comes from our sustained economic growth in recent years. The port now handles 80 million tonnes of cargo a year, an increase of almost 90 per cent in the past five years. Further substantial growth is expected. The point has now been reached where our existing facilities are coming under severe strain.
In planning for the expansion of our port we have looked ahead to 2006. By that time we will need:
= to increase our container throughput by five times;
- additional land for lorry parking and container storage;
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on-shore facilities to replace the unloading which is now done in the harbour itself;
- space to cater for larger numbers of river trade vessels; and
- space for the various industrial activities which a modern port requires.
Our first priority is to build the next container terminal, Terminal 8. This will go on reclaimed land at Stonecutters Island. We plan to make the site available for development in 1991, so that the first berth can be in operation by mid-1993. Terminal 9 and its support facilities will be built on reclaimed land at the south east of Tsing Yi Island. At that point, there will be little room for further development in the area of the present container port. We then plan to move the focus of the port westward. One area for development will be North Lantau, making use of the road facilities being built for the new airport. Another will be the coastal strip west of Tuen Mun. Two more major developments will be the construction of a large breakwater between Lantau and Lamma to increase the amount of sheltered anchorage in the western harbour; and the dredging of a new shipping channel to the west of Lamma.
All this development work in the port means that we must make sure that we co-ordinate the needs and interests of all its many different users. To do this, we propose to set up a Port Development Board, which will give advice on the detailed planning and management of the port as we carry out the plans for expansion I have outlined.
Financing the Development of the Port and Airport
The ambitious programme of works I have described will give Hong Kong a new modern airport and a larger port, plus all the necessary transport links and supporting industrial and commercial facilities. The cost will be some $127 billion at current prices over the period up to 2006. This is an enormous financial commitment. But, after very careful
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