Page 92 of 126
162
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
look. For the public interest, for the benefits of the schools and for the benefits of our young people, I fully support Mr. Joseph CHAN'S motion. Thank you.
MS. ANNA TANG (in Cantonese): Mr. Chairman, Hong Kong is an international city. The Government would like to redevelop the Hong Kong Stadium with a history of 34 years hoping that it could be turned into a modernized stadium. Of course, we all welcome this as good news. But we want to have the existing facilities improved and we certainly do not wish the taking away of the existing facilities from the Stadium and depriving of the rights of the people who are using the Stadium. I agree with all our colleagues that the athletic track should be retained. If it is really to be taken away, then a Stadium with a running track must be found and must be acceptable to all users. I am very concerned about the transport arrangement around the Stadium. The existing Caroline Hill Road is very congested and it is a one-way road. Two hospitals, many schools, and youth centres are situated nearby. It is also very close to residential buildings. If in future there are 40,000 people and thousands of cars around the Hong Kong Stadium, how can we make sure the crowds and cars be dispersed very quickly and efficiently? So I think we must be very careful in the transport management aspect. Secondly, I am also concerned about the order in the Stadium. If anything accidental happens how can the authority make sure that the situation will not be out of control? As the stadium is situated in the Wan Chai District and as the representative of the Wan Chai District, I have collected a lot of views from the district board members and the public. They all support the spirit of the redevelopment project of this stadium, but I hope that the government should publicize all information so that the public might put their hearts at ease. And I also hope that the public would widely be consulted. This is in line with the democratic trend in Hong Kong. We all hope that the future redeveloped Stadium should be a venue for the entire interest of everyone in Hong Kong and not a venue which is just to satisfy the needs of a small minority of our community. With these remarks, I support Mr. CHAN'S motion.
VICE-CHAIRMAN (in Cantonese): Mr. Chairman, I support Mr. Joseph CHAN'S motion. I only like to bring up two points. First, we have to bear in mind, technically speaking, whether it is feasible really to redevelop the Hong Kong Stadium, we don't have any information at all and so I really don't think we should draw any conclusion as to whether it is technically feasible to do such a project. What we should be fighting for is that we are the current managing authority for the Hong Kong Stadium and that is why we should try our best to get as much information in this area as possible before we decide whether to proceed. The second point is that, I agree to what Mr. Li Wah-ming said that we shouldn't look back but at the same time when we look ahead we shouldn't view this matter in the light of whether we should be fighting for management responsibility for the redeveloped stadium. I think after we have studied the expert's recommendations and the consultancy findings, we can draw our conclusion as to whether we should at all take up management responsibility
Page 92 of 126
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Page 92 of 126
163
for the new stadium or not. At the moment, I think we should not decide to give up or fight for managing the Hong Kong Stadium. We should only view the matter from the point of an authority that is currently managing the Hong Kong Stadium. I fully agree to a point made previously on whether it is feasible to find a replaced facility for the Hong Kong Stadium, I think we should look whether the replaced facility can meet the demands of schools for sport activities and also the demands can be met satisfactorily, so that our schools can at least enjoy the same level of sport activities at our venues. While we support the motion, I urge this Council to try its best to get all relevant information in this area as soon as possible so that we can make up our minds. I support the motion.
CHAIRMAN (in English): Those registered to speak have all spoken. I shall now ask if anyone who has not yet spoken wish to speak. Dr. Elsie Tu and Mr. Paul YOUNG.
DR. ELSIE TU (in English): Mr. Chairman, I didn't put on my name as a speaker because I wanted to hear first what my colleagues had said. I fully agree with what my colleagues have said. In fact, I raised all those points with the Recreation and Culture Branch of the Government at a recent meeting in the Legislative Council. It seems clear now that plans for the redevelopment of the Stadium have totally ignored the needs of the schools for their sport and secondly they have ignored the management authority of the Sports Council which had been set down in the Memorandum of Administrative Arrangements. It seems that the Government responded only when the schools and this Council protested. I am sure that we are grateful to the school associations for speaking up before it is too late to push for action on behalf of the Hong Kong school children. The Jockey Club now late in the day seems to be prepared to pay to upgrade the Aberdeen Sports Ground to provide 10,000 seats but there is no firm commitment to replace the track in time for the work to begin on the Stadium next April. Also the proposed location of the Aberdeen track is not satisfactory for some schools nor is there any indication as to how the new Stadium will be managed. Management has serious financial implication in terms of paying for staff and maintenance. Yet the Urban Council has been left completely in the dark about all this. The Government has now promised to consult the Urban Council but is rather late in the day because work on the Stadium is about to begin. Full consultation must begin now urgently and we must insist that there must be no interruption in the athletic activities of the school. And Mr. Chairman, I fully support the motion.
MR. PAUL YOUNG (in English): Mr. Chairman, first of all, I am very happy that many agree with a lot of my colleagues' suggestions and points. I think the Government should be prepared really to allocate more finance for us in case if project goes ahead whether it is under our management or otherwise simply because it would affect all our other facilities. That means that we will have to subsidize more for our other facilities. Because of this new huge facility being
Page 92 of 126