ENG-1991 — Page 24

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A COMPLETELY NEW PORT

Yet there is an important difference. Whereas the rephasing of New Territories De- velopment was largely due to financial constraints (such as those arising, for example, from the worldwide recession of the mid-1970s), the timing of port projects will depend primarily on the demand building up for the new facilities. In short, it's a 'demand-led' scheme.

To return to the question of whether the bound to the west that we now see activated by PADS was unduly delayed. One can argue convincingly that it was not; and one can argue with equal conviction that an earlier rush into the finalising of port-and-airport plans, while at the same time attending to huge ongoing re-housing and other commitments, could well have been disastrous.

It must be emphasised, further, that a steady if undramatic thrust of development to the west never ceased in the later 1970s and throughout the 1980s, though it attracted relatively little public attention. Construction under way or completed included new public housing on Tsing Yi and land reclamation and urban renewal in Western District on Hong Kong Island - not forgetting a large new town still being expanded at Tuen Mun.

The same directional tilt was apparent in large-scale planning exercises preceding PADS. One such was Metroplan, which in the late-1980s began to publish the options for urban development along both shores of the harbour. Among the prospects outlined were a western harbour crossing and a reclamation that would turn Green Island into a part of Kennedy Town.

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Finally, it's relevant to point out that the early and mid-1980s were the years when an intensive industrial effort - spread over many fields, including notably the service indus- tries produced the conspicuous increases of demand which necessitated PADS and without which there would have been no raison d'etre for the studies. This surge was reflected in the total tonnage handled by the port. It rose from 21.0 million tonnes in 1980 to 63 million tonnes in 1987.

All in all, 1988 may not have been a bad year to begin to pull the plans and surveys together. Before a quantum leap, as before any other kind of leap, it is as well to begin gathering oneself at the right moment. That moment had come.

New Muscle, where it's Needed

Let us now move forward a little in time, if only in imagination. On an airliner about to land in Hong Kong in, say, 1999, passengers could well hear the pilot address them on the following lines: 'Ladies and gentlemen, we are now completing our descent to Chek Lap Kok airport on the island of Lantau. Shortly you will see the island ahead.

'As we approach, you will notice the new harbour breakwater with ships at moorings beyond it. And in the distance, before the hills of Lantau get in the way as we land, you may catch a glimpse of container ships entering port and a large suspension bridge close by. That's the bridge you'll be crossing on your way downtown."

Our imaginary pilot will have given an excellent summary of the main features of the western harbour scene - except for one mistake. It's true that a number of stationary cargo ships, maybe as many as fifty at times, will be visible in the new haven once the new breakwater is in place, so filling the southerly gap in a protective ring of hills and mountains. But these ships will not be at moorings. They will be at anchor; and very few, if any, of them will be loading or unloading freight.

The sheltered area afforded by the breakwater will be used as an anchorage and will enhance the safety of vessels during typhoons. But the main function of this