West Kowloon arts hub 'to lose HK$300m a year', Rafael Hui trial told

Planned arts and cultural facilities at the West Kowloon arts hub were projected in 2005 to incur losses of up to HK$300 million a year, a corruption trial involving former chief secretary Rafael Hui Si-yan heard yesterday.

The estimate came from the director of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department at the time, during a May 24, 2005, meeting of the steering committee for the West Kowloon Cultural District project, defence lawyers for Hui said.

At that time, Donald Tsang Yam-kuen was still the city's chief secretary and chairman of the committee, before he became chief executive later that year.

Hui is alleged to have received tens of millions of dollars from Sun Hung Kai Properties' co-chairmen to be the developer's "eyes and ears" in the government over the West Kowloon project and a development on Ma Wan Island.

The arts hub received proposals from five developers, one of which was an SHKP joint venture with Cheung Kong.

After Hui replaced Tsang as chairman, the committee in September 2005 decided the winning developer must carve out half of the residential and commercial developments in the arts hub for open bidding, Hui's lawyers told the Court of First Instance yesterday, citing documents.