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Request for funding to study controversial Hong Kong reclamation plan would be granted quickly, head of Legislative Council’s Finance Committee says
- Chan Kin-por says fast approval for a feasibility study likely because rule changes have made filibustering difficult
- Calls critics of scheme ‘sinners in history’
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Lawmakers could quickly approve funding for a study on a huge reclamation project off Lantau Island, the head of the committee that vets such requests said, while calling critics of the controversial scheme “sinners in history”.
Legislative Council Finance Committee chairman Chan Kin-por said on Saturday fast approval for a feasibility study was likely because rule changes had made filibustering difficult. He estimated the green light could be given in under 20 hours.
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“I will be the bad guy. There’s no choice. I will strictly stick to procedural rules,” he said on a radio talk show, in a reference to his powers as chairman.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor this month announced the “Lantau Tomorrow Vision” project, which involves building 1,700 hectares of artificial islands off Lantau to tackle land shortages.
Critics of the scheme believe it will come at high environmental and economic costs – conservative estimates put the price tag at about HK$500 billion (US$63.8 billion), roughly half of the city’s fiscal reserves, while others put it closer to HK$1 trillion.
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