24 August 2005

Mr Honourable Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, GBM
Chief Executive
Office of the Chief Executive
5/F., Central Government Offices
Main Wing, Lower Albert Road
Hong Kong

Commencing more infrastructure projects and building works to create more employment and to meet our development requirements

This is to follow up my letter of 11 July 2005 with a specific purpose of drawing your attention to the captioned subject.

As I have reiterated on many occasions, the double-digit unemployment rate in the construction sector is still a major problem which affects more than 1 million people if family members of the practitioners in the sector are included. In order to solve the problem and to strengthen our infrastructure facilities for our future development, the government must commence more infrastructure projects and building works, particularly those approved projects. In addition, the government should make available adequate recurrent expenditure to government departments to enable them to commence these projects.

Priority must be given to the following projects that have been pending for quite a long time: 169 projects of the two defunct municipal councils, the government headquarters at Tamar site, South East Kowloon Development, HATS Stage II, Shatin to Central Link and South Island Line.

Meanwhile, the progress of the widely publicised project, Hong Kong-Macau-Zhuhai Bridge, is particularly disappointing. Considering the significance of the Bridge to the development of the Pan-Pearl River Delta Region including Hong Kong , the government should lose no time in co-ordinating with the Central Government, Macau SAR Government and the Guangdong Province Government with a view to expediting the construction of the Bridge. At least, we should actively plan and implement the related and supporting facilities, such as approach roads, connecting trunk roads and upgrading major road junctions.

As you may agree, engineers including government engineers have a pivotal role in implementing infrastructure and building projects. With the substantial improvement in the government's financial position lately, I strongly believe that the government should resume recruiting young engineers on permanent terms to join the Civil Service so as to meet the requirements for our future development and to prevent the succession problem in the engineering professional grade and the undesirable disappearance of engineering expertise within the government.

I am looking forward to receiving your comments on the above suggestions.

Ir Dr the Hon Raymond HO Chung-tai