THE AIRPORT CORE PROGRAMME
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The West Kowloon reclamation will provide housing for 91 000 people and some five hectares of commercial space, as well as vital road and rail arteries linking Kowloon with the new airport and northwestern New Territories. By the end of 1993, the reclamation was about 65 per cent complete, with about 220 hectares of land formed.
Construction of Phase I of the Cheung Sha Wan wholesale market complex on the West Kowloon reclamation was completed on time and within budget, and opened for use in October. It is designed to operate round-the-clock, every day of the year, and to handle more than 1 000 tonnes of fresh produce every day.
Phase I of the Central reclamation will provide opportunities for the development of Hong Kong's central business district, plus a site for the Central terminus of the airport railway. Reclamation work, which began in September, necessitated the relocation of the Discovery Bay Ferry Pier to the Star Ferry East Pier, and the Tsim Sha Tsui East hoverferry service to Queen's Pier.
Tung Chung new town will ultimately occupy two valleys at Tung Chung and Tai Ho on northern Lantau and a coastal strip of reclamation in between. It is planned to house 20 000 people by 1997 and up to 200 000 people by 2011. In addition to providing support services for the new airport, it will accommodate commercial and industrial developments and will serve as an impressive gateway to Hong Kong for visitors. There will be a mixture of private, public rental, and home ownership scheme housing, several shopping centres, an office and hotel complex in the town centre, and a 52-hectare industrial park. Extensive landscaping will shield the town from the airport to the northwest and provide generous recreational areas, supplemented by the backdrop of the Lantau Country Park to the south. Strong emphasis has been placed on community facilities and both local and long-distance rail and bus transport. At the year's end, about 50 hectares of land had been formed.
The Airport at Chek Lap Kok
Detailed planning of the airport facilities, and construction of the airport platform at Chek Lap Kok, progressed rapidly in 1993. The PAA, a statutory corporation set up in April 1990 with the Hong Kong Government as its sole shareholder, is planning and developing an airport which will be operationally safe and efficient, environmentally friendly, and commercially viable. Operationally, the new airport will expand on the quality and range of aviation services available at the existing airport. At the same time, it will set new directions in terms of commercial operations and expand the role of Hong Kong's airport as the regional transportation hub.
The new airport has been scheduled to open the first of its two runways in 1997. It will be able to handle 35 million passengers and 1.5 million tonnes of air cargo a year. Airport facilities are being designed by the PAA so that they can be expanded in stages and cater for forecast growth, in both passenger and cargo throughput, to 87 million passengers and nine million tonnes of cargo by the year 2040. Because of its location off North Lantau, the airport will be able to operate round-the-clock without causing noise problems for Hong Kong's urban areas.
Out of a total of 100 works contracts planned by the PAA for the new airport, four major construction contracts and various smaller contracts ----- with a total value of $9.7 billion - have been awarded. The $9 billion airport site preparation contract, which is the largest contract in the ACP, covers a period of 41 months. Work started in December 1992