*******************************************************
The Government today (March 4) issued the following statement to clarify misconceptions and set the record straight regarding the request by the Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) to use the whole site of the former campus of the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (Lee Wai Lee) at Renfrew Road, Kowloon Tong (ex-IVE(LWL) site):
The Government notes that HKBU and relevant parties have recently put forward various claims over their request to use the whole ex-IVE(LWL) site, some of which are factually incorrect. The Government's detailed responses are set out at Annex.
The Government reiterates that the Administration has submitted the proposal to the Town Planning Board (TPB) to rezone the southern portion of the ex-IVE(LWL) site to residential use after taking account of the fact that the northern portion of the site has already been reserved for higher education use by HKBU. If fully utilised, the northern portion of the site can fully meet HKBU's requirements for student hostels and academic space according to the prevailing policy. After assessment, the Government has taken the view that it is not necessary to reserve the southern portion of the site for higher education or other "Government, Institution and Community" uses.
On HKBU's proposal to construct a self-financed Chinese medicine hospital, the Government stresses that, as a private medical facility, the proposed hospital is no different from other private hospitals. The Government currently does not have a policy to provide individual organisations with government land for the development of self-financed Chinese medicine hospitals, and therefore does not support the development of a private Chinese medicine hospital at the southern portion of the ex-IVE(LWL) site which is a government site.
Campus development of HKBU
The Government and the University Grants Committee (UGC) actively supports HKBU and other UGC-funded institutions in their campus development on a fair and consistent basis in accordance with well-established policies. In recent years, HKBU has been granted more than 4,000 square metres of government land and public funding of nearly $1.2 billion to construct new academic buildings, providing nearly 30,000 square metres of academic space and bringing about significant improvements to campus conditions. At present, 93.6% of HKBU's requirements for academic space have been met, placing it second among the eight UGC-funded institutions and first among the four institutions located in the urban area of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon.
The ex-IVE(LWL) site has never been included within HKBU's campus boundary even though it is at close proximity with the university. In recent years, HKBU has made various different proposals on the use of the site at different junctures. Nonetheless, some of these proposals included only brief textual descriptions without sufficient details as normally provided in public works projects. As abovementioned, the Government has reserved 6,000 square metres of land at the northern portion of the said site for HKBU's campus development. If fully utilised, this will fully meet the requirements for some 2,000 square metres of academic floor space and 1,331 student hostel places according to the prevailing policy and calculation formula. As for the southern portion of the site, it is beyond the requirements of HKBU under existing policy. The Government stresses that there is no justification to allocate this portion of the site to HKBU for education purpose under the principle of fairness.
HKBU's request for development of Chinese medicine
hospital at the southern portion of the ex-IVE(LWL) site
On HKBU's proposal to develop a Chinese medicine hospital, the Government reiterates that Chinese medicine hospitals are medical facilities that mainly serve the general public, and any proposal to set up a Chinese medicine hospital should first and foremost be considered from the perspectives of healthcare and community needs. The Government is committed to developing Chinese medicines and will consider proposals from interested organisation to develop self-financed Chinese medicine hospital on private land. If any organisation, with the support from the Food and Health Bureau, wishes to develop a Chinese medicine hospital, and any institution subsequently wishes to use this facility to offer internship opportunities for its students and applies for extra funding from the UGC, the UGC will process and consider the institution's application in accordance with established procedures. However, the UGC will not finance the construction of the medical facility.
In recent years, HKBU has put forward various ideas on the development of a Chinese medicine hospital, and submitted a detailed proposal in November 2011 with supplementary information in September 2012 on a joint project with the Tsim Sha Tsui District Kai Fong Welfare Association (TSTKFWA) to develop a Chinese medicine hospital at the Association's building. The proposal contained detailed information, such as the mode of collaboration with TSTKFWA, proposed timetable for the development, feasibility study report, the budget, etc. The Government all along supports this proposal. The proposal is also a clear illustration that it is not a must for a Chinese medicine hospital to be located next to an institution offering Chinese medicine courses. The Government was only formally notified by HKBU on February 18, 2013 of the withdrawal of its joint project with TSTKFWA. In that letter, HKBU mentioned that it considered the ex-IVE(LWL) site to be the most suitable site for building the Chinese medicine hospital.
The Government stresses that there is currently no established policy to provide government land for the development of a private Chinese medicine hospital. The Government will only consider proposals to build self-financed Chinese medicine hospitals on private land or applications to change land use of land already allocated to the organisation proposing to develop a private Chinese medicine hospital. Hence the Government could not possibly have promised to allocate the southern portion of the ex-IVE(LWL) site to HKBU to develop a Chinese medicine hospital. The Government has in fact received proposals from other organisations to develop Chinese medicine hospitals, and should a policy to provide government land for development of Chinese medicine hospitals be formulated in future, such land will be disposed in a fair, just and open manner. HKBU indicated that they had encountered considerable technical difficulties in the joint project with TSTKFWA. Should HKBU remain interested in the project, relevant government departments will continue to render assistance to take it forward. However, the Government does not support the development of a Chinese medicine hospital on government land at the ex-IVE(LWL) site.
After assessment, the Government has taken the view that the southern portion of the ex-IVE(LWL) site is suitable for rezoning to residential use in order to meet housing needs. The proposed rezoning is being taken forward in accordance with statutory town planning procedures. The TPB exhibited the relevant draft Outline Zoning Plan for public inspection on February 15 this year. Any person can make representation in respect of the amendments to the TPB during the two-month consultation period.
Regarding the criticism that the inclusion of the ex-IVE(LWL) site into the Land Sale Programme next year is not in line with established procedures, the Government stresses that it is the Administration's practice to include all anticipated government sites that are expected to become available in a certain year into that year's Land Sale Programme. This could provide clear information about the anticipated land supply to the market so that the market could be prepared. These sites include individual sites which need to undergo various processes (e.g. termination of short-term tenancies, completion of public works, completion of statutory planning process for amendments of Outline Zoning Plans, etc) and thus are not immediately available but are expected to be available for sale within the year. The relevant departments will accord priority and expedite the required processes with a view to ensuring early completion. We are fully aware that some of the sites including the southern portion of the ex-IVE(LWL) site would require the completion of the statutory procedures for amending the relevant Outline Zoning Plans before they can be put to the market.
Responding to remarks made by some relevant organisations on the possibility of taking further actions over the request to use the whole ex-IVE(LWL) site, the Government reiterates its respect for the freedom of expression but does not wish to see any such activities affecting student learning. Land resources are valuable in Hong Kong and the supply of urban land suitable for residential use is scarce. The Government hopes that different sectors of the community would adopt a fair and rational attitude when considering the future use of the southern portion of the ex-IVE(LWL) site, having regard to the best interests of Hong Kong's overall development.
Ends/Monday, March 4, 2013
Issued at HKT 23:57
NNNN
