ENG-2004 — Page 291

Land, Public Works and Utilities | 241

In December 2003, the Government granted a franchise to the MTR Corporation Limited for the finance, design, construction, operation and maintenance of a cable car system linking Tung Chung and Ngong Ping. The cable car system is now under construction and is expected to become an important tourism facility.

After completing a scoping study for a proposed logistics park at Siu Ho Wan, Lantau, the Government will embark on a feasibility study in early 2005. It will be completed in about a year.

North-East New Territories and North-West New Territories New Development

The planning and development studies on North-East New Territories (NENT) and North-West New Territories (NWNT) have been completed. The studies have established the feasibility of developing Kwu Tung North (497 hectares) and Fanling North (192 hectares) in NENT as New Development Areas to house populations of 100 000 and 80 000, respectively, and developing Hung Shui Kiu (450 hectares) in NWNT as a New Development Area to accommodate a population of about 160 000. The development of these New Development Areas will be triggered when the need arises.

Lantau Development

Pursuant to the 2004 Policy Address, the Lantau Development Task Force was set up in early 2004 to provide a high-level policy steer on the economic and infrastructure development in Lantau. As a start, a Concept Plan for Lantau has been drawn up to provide a coherent and balanced planning framework for the future development of Lantau. A few key development themes and proposals have been identified. Public consultation was launched in end November 2004 with a view to mapping out the future of Lantau jointly with the community.

Building Development

The Private Sector

Superstructure works in 194 building sites started in 2004, involving a total gross floor area of 1.60 million square metres. In 2004, a total of 635 buildings, with a total gross floor area of 2.84 million square metres, were completed at a total cost of $34.5 billion. This compared with 785 buildings, with a total gross floor area of 2.87 million square metres, built at a total cost of $33.1 billion, in 2003.

Major construction works in progress at year-end included the AsiaWorld-Expo at Chek Lap Kok, Phase 2 of Science Park, the Hong Kong Disneyland theme park and the associated Disneyland Resort Line providing transport to the park and the Tung Chung Cable Car project.

In a bid to stop new unauthorised building works (UBWs), a pledge has been introduced to inspect UBWs under construction within 48 hours in response to community reports. Special patrol teams from private consulting firms commissioned by the Buildings Department handled 3 037 reported cases in 2004.

In 2004, altogether 24 577 report cases on UBWs were dealt with, 27 805 removal orders issued; and 41 210 UBWs removed. The total number of 1 710