22 January 2005

The Honourable Tung Chee Hwa
Chief Executive
Chief Executive's Office
Central Government Offices
Lower Albert Road
Hong Kong

Dear C.H.,

I write to share my views on your 2005 Policy Address, which is very pragmatic in its approach. This is very much so when compared to the previous ones you delivered in the past 7 years.

I am happy to see that the government has decided to resume 25 of the 169 projects left over by the two defunct Municipal Councils. As these 169 projects have been suspended for more than 4 years, the government must ensure speedy implementation of these 25 projects identified for priority treatment while works for the rest of the municipal projects which came under the former Urban Council and Regional Council should also commence as soon as possible without further delay. It would be most disappointing to all of us if the government considered the $4.4 billion to be expended on these 25 projects was counted as part of the $29 billion annual expenditure for infrastructure rather than on top of the latter.

In your response to my question at the LegCo Q & A Session on 14 October 2004 , you have tasked the Secretary for Home Affairs, Dr Patrick Ho, to submit a report to LegCo within 3 months on the implementation programme of these 169 municipal projects. However, up to now LegCo still has not received the Secretary's report and more than 3 month has already lapsed. We are anxiously awaiting his report and hope that the Secretary will meet what you have openly committed. Would you please ensure it happens.

Apart from the need to streamline the approval process for private sector projects, it is imperative for the government to shorten the planning and implementation cycles for its infrastructure projects and building works. We are in a situation so serious that it is not compatible with a world-class city.

In the 2005 Policy Address, it is mentioned that the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge will soon proceed to the next stage of work. Indeed, its construction work should commence as soon as possible for the sake of the further development of the Pan-Pearl River Delta Region. Also, development of related facilities and infrastructure to the Bridge in Hong Kong worth about $20 billion will need early planning, consultation and approval so that their implementation can proceed in phase with the construction of the Bridge.

While I appreciate your promise in carrying on with the government's annual allocation of $29 billion for capital works, its impact on employment cannot be overstated as long as the recurrent consequences in full amount are still not available to government departments. Indeed, the slightly improved unemployment rate of 15.4% in the construction sector is still more than double the overall unemployment of 6.5%. These statistics have cast doubt on figures given by Mr K C Kwok, Government Economist, as quoted in the Hong Kong Economic Daily Times on 7 January 2005 . Among other figures quoted in the report, there are only 4,500 unemployed professionals which include doctors and engineers etc. I have already written to Mr Kwok for verification of these numbers. Nevertheless, unemployment is still a major concern of engineers who have high expectation on the government in solving the problem.

This letter constitutes my preliminary feedback to the 2005 Policy Address. Further comments will be given in the forthcoming LegCo motion debate on the subject.

　　　　(signed)
Ir Dr the Hon Raymond Ho Chung-tai