2
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1990
CONCEPTUALLY, THE SPOKESMAN SAID, MR GORDON WU'S PROPOSALS HAVE SEVERAL
OF ATTRACTIONS. UNFORTUNATELY, MORE DETAILED SCRUTINY INDIVIDUAL COMPONENTS HAS REVEALED A NUMBER OF SERIOUS FLAWS, AND THEY
ARE:
(A)
(B)
OFFSET
CONSTRUCTION OF THE SHAM MA BRIDGE AND ROAD-RAIL LINK INSTEAD OF THE LANTAU FIXED CROSSING, WHILE PRESENTED AS A AS CHEAPER OPTION, WOULD, IN FACT, BE ALMOST AS EXPENSIVE THE LANTAU FIXED CROSSING. ANY POTENTIAL ADVANTAGE IN COST, SCHEDULING OR RELIABILITY WOULD BE MORE THAN BY SEVERE TRANSPORT AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS;
SEVERE CONGESTION WOULD CONTINUE ON THE MASS RAILWAY/NATHAN ROAD CORRIDOR AND ON THE STREETS KOWLOON BECAUSE OF THE ELIMINATION OF THE WEST RECLAMATION. THE PROPOSALS WOULD ALSO SEVERELY OVERLOAD THE ROAD AND TRANSPORT FACILITIES OF THE TSUEN KWAI CHUNG AREA WHILE PROVIDING NO IMPROVEMENT OF ACCESS TO TSING YI;
TRANSIT OF WEST KOWLOON
WAN AND
(C)
A SIGNIFICANT OPPORTUNITY TO IMPROVE THE UNACCEPTABLY KOK CROWDED ENVIRONMENT OF MONG KOK, YAU MA TEI, AND TAI TSUI
SOME OF THE MOST DENSELY POPULATED AREAS IN THE WORLD
WOULD BE LOST BY THE ELIMINATION OF THE WEST KOWLOON RECLAMATION;
(D)
THE BRINGING FORWARD OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE GREEN: ISLAND LINK WOULD REQUIRE THE LANTAU, PORT ISLAND AND GREEN ISLAND RECLAMATION TO BE CONSTRUCTED WELL IN ADVANCE OF BOTH PORT AND TRAFFIC DEMAND. IT WOULD, THEREFORE, HAVE TO BE FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT AS IT IS HIGHLY UNLIKELY THAT ANY PRIVATE SECTOR INTERESTS WOULD BE INVOLVED AT THAT EARLY STAGE;
WISH TO
(E)
THESE DEFICIENCIES TAKEN TOGETHER WOULD RESULT SIGNIFICANT ADDITIONAL EXPENDITURE, WHICH WOULD FALL LARGELY ON THE PUBLIC PURSE, AND SUB-OPTIMAL CASH WHICH WOULD RENDER VARIOUS COMPONENTS OF UNATTRACTIVE TO THE PRIVATE SECTOR; AND
IN BOTH
FLOWS,
THE PROJECT
(F)
(BOT)
TRANSPORT
OF
PLACING THE TOTAL PLAN FOR HONG KONG'S INFRASTRUCTURE UNDER AN OVERALL BUILD-OPERATE-TRANSFER
FRANCHISE WOULD INVOLVE AN UNACCEPTABLE RISK AS COMPARED TO THE CURRENT PLANS FOR BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT AND THE PRIVATE SECTOR.
LEVEL PARTNERSHIP
H
"OUR STUDY SHOWS THAT THE GOVERNMENT'S PLANS ARE MORE SUITED TO THE NEEDS OF HONG KONG WELL INTO THE NEXT CENTURY, THE SPOKESMAN SAID.
MEET
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