Remarks on Planning, Lands and Works 
and Environmental Affairs 
in the “Motion of Thanks”
in respect of the Chief Executive's 2004 Policy Address
5 February 2004

Madam President

The Chief Executive said in his spring reception held at Government House last Wednesday that our economy had entered a blossoming new season of spring. He went on to add that Hong Kong would see a bumper year ahead. 

In spite of the recent improvement in retail businesses and more people are willing to spend, I dare not share the same level of optimism as that of Mr Tung. The reason is quite simple. The construction industry, in which many of my constituents are working or used to be working, are still experiencing a very high unemployment of over 20%. 

Public Works

I am quite disappointed that, despite my numerous approaches made to Mr Tung and the present and former Financial Secretaries, the government still fails to come up with positive actions to produce an upward economic spiral. Capitalizing on the very low tender prices, the government ought to increase the volume of infrastructure projects to boost the economy and to create employment.

Earmarking $29 billion per year for capital works projects, although 10% more than the previous years which is in fact what I pressed the former Financial Secretary to commit in his last Budget, is far from being enough to make up for the dwindling volume of work in the private sector, the railway projects and the severely reduced workload in the public housing programme. As one of the major pillars of local economy, the construction industry in such a depressed state is actually dragging down the whole economy. The government should do something to spur the industry which will in turn help uplift the economy as a whole through the economic multiplier.

Having said that, I must commend the Chief Executive for his response to my letters addressed to him in the past few months and previous comments on the decreasing amount of Category B and Category C work being carried out by the government. He mentioned in his Policy Address that apart from providing funding for the feasibility studies of infrastructure projects, the government has also secured recurrent funding for their operation. My constituents welcome this but they are still concerned if the government will actually keep to this commitment. I do sincerely hope that it is about time the government will prove to the community and the world that they mean what they say.

I understand that the growing fiscal deficit of the government may have precluded it from investing more in infrastructure development projects. However, as I have said many many times on different occasions, these projects can either be financed by issuing bonds or in the form of Private Finance Initiatives (PFI), capitalising on the over $3,000 billion financial resources in the private sector. Here I refer to projects to be initiated by investors in the private sector – the projects otherwise not included in the government's plans. I also object to privatising government's existing facilities which otherwise could be undertaken by the government's in-house staff. Also, the implementation of the PFI must be supervised by government staff of the appropriate departments to secure their quality deliveries. The government must be very cautious in reducing technical staff in the civil service, otherwise they will not have sufficient experienced technical people to ensure the public can obtain what they deserve. 

On the other hand, I have been urging the government to improve the cross-boundary infrastructure so as to accommodate the ever-growing traffic in both passengers and goods. I am glad that the government is actually doing something now. A new bridge at the Sha Tau Kok crossing will be built to increase capacity and improve traffic flow. The much debated Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge has finally been brought onto the agenda of a Co-ordination Group while the proposed express rail link connecting Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Guangzhou is among the ongoing initiatives. Considering the increasing volume of cross-boundary traffic due to our growing economic integration with the Pearl River Delta, the government must give priority to these 2 projects and give serious consideration in incorporating a railway line into the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge. Indeed, the Administration should lose no time in planning ahead to meet the future requirements. Otherwise, our cross-boundary infrastructure facilities will always lag behind the actual requirements. 

Environmental Affairs

According to the Policy Agenda of this year, the government is continuing to implement “the polluter pays” principle, which I support, and plan for the introduction of a disposal charging scheme for construction and demolition waste in 2004. However, I do not see the reason why the government is still subsidising the chemical waste producers in disposing theirs. Chemical waste, including waste from sea-going vessels, is treated at the Chemical Waste Treatment Centre on Tsing Yi Island, the main treatment facility for chemical waste. Waste producers using its services are required to pay only part of the treatment cost while the remaining bill of about $400 to $500 million annually has to be footed by the tax payers. I wonder why the “the polluter pays” principle does not apply here. 

Instead of subsidising the waste producers, the government should provide incentives to promote the development of the recycling industry. This is exactly the kind of measure that may help improve business environment but not the other way round. Besides, a healthy development of the recycling industry is totally in line with the environmental protection requirement. More than that, eliminating subsidies to waste producers will definitely be consistent with the government's efforts in reducing fiscal deficits. 

Madam President, with these remarks, I so submit.