Budget 2022-23: Hong Kong to set aside HK$100 billion for ambitious Northern Metropolis plan – but studies on several key sites still unfinished
- Finance chief Paul Chan says dedicated fund of HK$100 billion under the city’s Capital Works Reserve Fund will be ploughed into the mega project
- Government source reveals that concrete plans have not yet been made on how the money will be spent
Hong Kong will set aside HK$100 billion (US$12.8 billion) for its ambitious plan to develop a vast metropolis near the mainland Chinese border although studies on several key sites have either not yet started or are still to be completed.
The metropolis plan, first unveiled in Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s policy address last October, aims to turn parts of the rural areas near the border with Shenzhen into an economic and residential hub housing 2½ million people.
The blueprint includes the existing towns of Fanling and Sheung Shui, as well as neighbouring rural areas and six new development zones under planning or construction.
To pave the way for the implementation of infrastructure works related to land, housing and transport, Chan said a dedicated fund of HK$100 billion under the city’s Capital Works Reserve Fund would be ploughed into the mega project.
A government source said concrete plans had not yet been made on how the money would be spent, as preliminary studies of areas including San Tin, Lo Wu and Man Kam To were still not completed.
For the Ma Tso Lung and Lau Fau Shan area, funding requests for relevant studies have not yet been submitted to the Legislative Council.
