Minister warns 7,000 Hong Kong construction projects could be halted if legislators fail to pass funding
Government asks Legco to approve HK$12.4 billion funding package for more than 9,400 public works projects, but lawmakers call for greater scrutiny of 26 controversial items including Wang Chau housing plan
Hong Kong’s newly appointed development minister has warned that more than 7,000 public construction projects could be suspended if lawmakers refuse to approve a HK$12.4 billion funding package by April 1.
Secretary for Development Eric Ma Siu-cheung was speaking hours after pan-democrat lawmakers locked horns with the government at a Legislative Council meeting on Wednesday over the bundling of 26 controversial projects in with a package of more than 9,400 public works items in the Capital Works Reserve Fund.
The 26 projects, involving about HK$190 million, include a controversial housing plan for Wang Chau in Yuen Long and a much-criticised Lantau tourism development project, as well as contentious plans for new towns in the northeastern New Territories.
Pan-democrats rejected Ma’s warning and called for a review of the long-standing practice of allowing the government to seek funding en bloc once every year. The practice gives the government the authority to approve small expenditures not exceeding HK$30 million per item without approval from Legco for each individual project.
“The practice was introduced in 1982 when the British colonial governor chaired a Legislative Council of appointees,” independent lawmaker Eddie Chu Hoi-dick said. “But nowadays this directly elected legislature cannot allow the government to have all the powers.”
Legco’s public works subcommittee resumed debate on the package on Wednesday after failing to vote on it during a two-hour session on February 3. But lawmakers failed again to vote on Wednesday after spending two hours debating a motion to adjourn the meeting.
