WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1993
SES ON CONTAINER TRANSPORT
* *
MR
FOLLOWING IS THE SPEECH BY THE SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC SERVICES, GORDON
IN SIU, IN THE MOTION DEBATE ON CONTAINER LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TONIGHT (WEDNESDAY):
TRANSPORT
THE
MR PRESIDENT
IN RESPONDING TO POINTS RAISED BY HONOURABLE MEMBERS I SHALL COVER FOUR ISSUES :
AND
-
THE BACKGROUND TO, AND THE DESIGN OF, CT9;
THE BENEFITS CT9 WILL BRING TO HONG KONG;
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CT9 AND CT10; AND
THE IMPLICATIONS OF NOT PROCEEDING WITH CT9.
HOW DID CT9 COME ABOUT? IT CAME ABOUT AS A RESULT OF THE PORT AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY STUDY (PADS) WHICH WAS ACCEPTED IN 1989 BY THE GOVERNMENT AS A BLUE-PRINT FOR DEVELOPING OUR PORT AND AIRPORT INFRASTRUCTURE. THAT STUDY FORESAW THE NEED FOR ADDITIONAL TERMINALS
TSING FOR CONTAINER OPERATION AT STONECUTTERS ISLAND, ONCE THE DEVELOPMENTAL POTENTIAL OF THESE AND,
LOCATIONS HAD BEEN UTILISED, ON LANTAU ISLAND.
REPLACEMENT
YI
FOR
THE
LANTAU WAS NEVER ENVISAGRD AS A DEVELOPMENTS AT EITHER STONECUTTERS ISLAND OR AT TSING Y1; NEITHER WAS IT ENVISAGED THAT ALL FOUR BERTHS OF THE TSING YI TERMINAL DEVELOPMENT
BY 1995. WOULD
RATHER, THE INTENTION BE COMPLETED
8 AT STONECUTTERS IN
TERMINAL
THAT
THE WOULD BE TSING YI
WAS EARLY 1995 COMPLETION OF FOLLOWED BY THE COMMISSIONING OF THE FIRST BERTH OF CT9 ON AND THAT THE OTHER BERTHS WOULD COME ON STREAM IN THE MONTHS TO FOLLOW AND THAT CT9 WOULD BE FULLY OPERATIONAL ONLY BY LATE 1996 1997. THIS WOULD OPEN THE WAY FOR LANTAU PORT TO BE DEVELOPED, BY BERTH, AFTER THE ROAD LINK TO THE ISLAND HAD BEEN BROUGHT INTO USE.
OR BARLY BERTH
WAS
IT
NEVER THE INTENTION TO BUILD AND OPEN CT9 AT TWO YEARS AND OPEN CT10. RATHER, THEN
ENVISAGED WE WAIT OPENING OF BERTHS TO MEET RISING DEMAND.
ONE
A
GO; PHASED
NOW
A YEAR
THAT WE HAD HAD A FEW MONTHS' DELAY TO THE START of DO WE STILL NEED CT9? THE ANSWER IS AN EMPHATIC YES, WE DO'. 1989 WE HAVE SET UP THE PORT DEVELOPMENT BOARD TO COMPREHENSIVELY AND PORT DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY. REGULARLY REVIEW OUR EACH
DETAILED FIVE-YEAR
+
WORK, SINCE
REQUIREMENTS.
NIM
THE BOARD
BERTH FORECAST OF CONTAINER THESE FORECASTS HAVE A RELIABLE TRACK RECORD, THE BOARD'S REVIEW LAST YEAR RECONFIRMED THE NEED FOR FOUR BERTHS AT TSING
OF VI.
HAVE
PANEL THREE MEMBERS OF THE ECONOMIC SERVICES COUNCIL, AND FOR THOSE MEMBERS WHO ARE NOT MEMBERS OF THAT PANEL THEREFORE MAY NOT BEEN IN POSSESSION OF THE RELEVANT DATA, HAPPILY SUPPLY ALL THE RELEVANT PAPERS.
PRODUCES
THIS
AND
WE SHALL
/NOW I