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FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 1992
GOVT YET TO DECIDE ON CT9 LOCATION
IN RESPONSE TO PRESS ENQUIRIES CONCERNING VIEWS EXPRESSED AGAINST THE PROPOSAL FOR LOCATING CONTAINER TERMINAL 9 (CT9) ON SOUTH- EAST TSING YI, A GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN SAID TODAY (FRIDAY) THAT CERTAIN INFORMATION REGARDING THE PROPOSED CT9 DEVELOPMENT HAD BEEN MISINTERPRETED.
THE GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN SAID NO DECISION HAD YET BEEN
OF TAKEN BY THE GOVERNMENT ON THE LOCATION
CT9 OR THE METHOD FOR DISPOSING THE LAND DEVELOPMENT RIGHT FOR THE NEW CONTAINER TERMINAL.
"THE PROPOSITION REGARDING THE DIFFERENCE IN LAND PREMIUM BETWEEN DISPOSING OF THE SITE BY OPEN TENDER AND PRIVATE TREATY GRANT (PTG) WOULD AMOUNT TO $3 BILLION WAS TOTALLY UNFOUNDED.
"DIFFERENT METHODS HAD BEEN USED IN GRANTING THE DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS OF EXISTING CONTAINER TERMINALS, DEPENDING ON THE PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES OF EACH CASE.
NOT
BEFORE
"THE AMOUNT OF LAND PREMIUM TO BE RECEIVED FROM CT9 COULD ACCURATELY ASSESSED BEFORE THE TENDER WAS
OR CALLED NEGOTIATION ON PRIVATE TREATY GRANT WAS COMPLETED.
BE
"THE AMOUNT OF PREMIUM OBTAINABLE WOULD ALSO HAVE TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE AMOUNT OF ENTRUSTMENT WORKS WHICH
WERE THE DEVELOPERS
AND REQUIRED TO UNDERTAKE, THE CAPITAL OUTLAY FOR DEVELOPING THE SITE OTHER SPECIFIC CONDITIONS ATTACHED TO THE LAND GRANT.
"IT
WAS THEREFORE UNFAIR AND IMPRACTICAL TO COMPARE THE LAND PREMIUM OBTAINED FROM DIFFERENT CONTAINER TERMINALS, THE SPOKESMAN SAID.
REGARDING TO THE RELOCATIONS OF THE MOBIL OIL AND HONG KONG OIL TSING YI DEPOTS, THE SPOKESMAN SAID THESE WERE RECOMMENDED UNDER THE RISK ASSESSMENT REPORT PUBLISHED IN 1989 BECAUSE OF SAFETY REASONS, AND HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF CT9 ON TSING YI.
"IT
WAS MISLEADING TO COUNT THE COST INVOLVED AS PART DEVELOPMENT COST FOR CT9.
OF THE
ON THE POTENTIAL REVENUE GAINS FOR THE LANTAU FIXED CROSSING (LFC)
EXPLAINED SHOULD CT9 BE LOCATED ON NORTH LANTAU, THE SPOKESMAN THAT PORT DEVELOPMENT ON NORTH LANTAU COULD NOT TAKE PLACE BEFORE OPENING OF THE LFC WHICH WAS CURRENTLY SCHEDULED FOR MID-1997.
THE
"BASED ON THE CURRENT FORECAST ON CARGO DEMAND, THE FIRST BERTH OF CT10 WOULD NEED TO BE DEVELOPED IN AROUND MID-1997 ON NORTH LANTAU.
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