XN000022-1995-04-11 — Page 25

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Prosperity depends on port development

The Chairman of the Hongkong Bank, Mr John Gray, said the development of Lantau Port was fundamental to the continued prosperity of Hong Kong.

Speaking as Chairman of the Port Development Board, Mr Gray said: "Building the port will bring enormous economic benefits, not only to Hong Kong, but to southern China as a whole. Failure to do so will lead to significant economic losses.

"It is plain that such a huge project will have some environmental effects. But, all these will be kept within the strict parameters laid down by the Government."

He added: "Any responsible person living in Hong Kong wants to protect the environment. But, we must carefully weigh possible effects on the environment against the enormous benefits the new port will bring."

Mr Gray was replying to a petition recently handed to him by Friends of the Earth and the World Wide Fund for Nature Hong Kong. The petition expressed concern about the environmental impact of the port development.

He pointed out that the Advisory Council on the Environment had endorsed plans for Container Terminals 10 and 11 (the first phase of Lantau Port) after studying the environmental impact assessment (EIA) on the project.

"Now, we must get on with bringing these two terminals into operation as soon as possible. They are urgently needed to cope with the continuing demand for increased container throughput.

"Hong Kong handled more than 11 million twenty-foot- equivalent units in 1994," he said. "That was a 20 per cent rise over 1993. And, so far as our container terminals are concerned, the first two months of this year show a 19 per cent rise over the same period last year.

"So, the pressure for new container facilities continues. The port remains the life-blood of Hong Kong, both for our workforce and for our economy as a whole."

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He pointed out that in 1994, container handling alone added some $214 billion to the local economy. Based on 1994 prices, forecasts produced by the Port Development Board, which take into account the development of China's own container ports, show that this will rise to $384 billion in 2001 and $633 billion in 2011.