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Following is a question by the Hon Paul Tse and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (June 25):
Question:
The Government announced in October last year that the Chairman of the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA) had agreed to extend his service for one year from June 1, 2014. However, the Government announced on the 30th of last month that (i) for personal reasons, the Chairman concerned would not extend his service (the former Chairman), (ii) the incumbent Chairman of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (TDC) would take up appointment as Chairman of AA from June 1, 2015 (the Chairman-designate), (iii) during the one-year interim period, an incumbent AA board member (who had just resigned from the office of Chairman of the Infrastructural Planning Committee of AA) would take up appointment as Chairman of AA (the interim Chairman), and (iv) a person who had resigned from his office of Member of the Executive Council (ExCo) as well as three other persons were appointed as new AA board members. In addition, the incumbent Executive Director of TDC, who has served TDC for a decade, has tendered his resignation from TDC and will take up the post of Chief Executive Officer of AA. On the other hand, it has been reported that the aforesaid personnel changes stemmed from the disputes which happened earlier between the former Chairman and the interim Chairman over the planning of the North Commercial District (NCD) of the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA), including whether or not to convert the underground Automatic People Mover depot (the underground depot) concerned into a commercial centre to tie in with the development of the third runway at HKIA, etc. Regarding the appointments of board members and transfers of senior staff members of AA and TDC, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows if the interim Chairman has any plan to overturn the decision made by the AA Board that there is no need to relocate the underground depot; as there are comments that the proposed third runway at HKIA will be the airport runway with the highest construction costs in the world, whether it has assessed if the relocation of the underground depot to tie in with the NCD development will further increase such construction costs, and whether the relocation is the option which best serves the public interest; if it has assessed, of the outcome; if the outcome is that the proposal will increase the construction costs, of the estimated increase in the construction costs of the third runway;
(2) as there are comments that the Chairman-designate does not have any experience in airport management, why the Government would rather make such a complicated arrangement of appointing an interim Chairman in order to facilitate the Chairman-designate to head AA one year later, and whether it had, from the perspective of public interest, considered other candidates with experience in airport management; if it had, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(3) as there are views that given AA is in charge of the important aviation infrastructure projects and the development of the aviation industry of Hong Kong, while TDC is responsible for promotion of Hong Kong's external trade, and yet the appointments of the board chairmen/ members of AA and TDC as well as transfers of their senior staff members are akin to "political appointments of a private-club-style", of the measures that the Government will take to convince the public that the appointments of AA board members (including the appointments of the interim Chairman and the Chairman-designate, as well as the appointment of a person who had resigned from the office of ExCo Member as an AA board member), as well as the coming transfers of TDC's Chairman and Executive Director to AA, are based on public interest and objective appointment criteria, instead of mere political considerations; and
(4) as the Government has indicated that it has appointed the interim Chairman as the Chairman of AA because of its trust in his ability, why he was appointed to the position only on a temporary basis for one year and he was not allowed to continue to assume the position one year after; as the Government trusts that the Chairman-designate is a capable person and is willing to make a complicated arrangement to facilitate him to head AA one year later, why it had not retained him to continue to serve TDC to promote Hong Kong's external trade; given that the incumbent Executive Director of TDC will also change his job to serve as the Chief Executive Officer of AA following the Chairman-designate's upcoming change of his appointment to AA, whether the Government has assessed, from the viewpoints of the two institutions' operations and public interests, if the complicated arrangements that the top two persons-in-charge of TDC will leave TDC one after another to take up appointments with AA while the term of office of the current interim Chairman of AA only lasts for one year will give rise to confusion and waste of manpower; how the Government explains to the public that the aforesaid series of personnel arrangements were made out of practical needs and not political considerations, and such arrangements will not obstruct the operations of AA and TDC?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the various parts of the question raised by Hon Paul Tse is as follows:
(1) The Board of the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA) has set the goals and direction of the planning work on the Three-Runway System (3RS) Project and the North Commercial District (NCD). Management of the AA is now actively taking forward all the necessary planning work.
The planning work (including the environmental impact assessment (EIA) and relevant design details) of the 3RS has entered the final stage and the location of the underground depot has been stated in the EIA Report. After receiving the notification from the Environmental Protection Department on June 12, 2014 that AA's EIA Report meets the requirements of the EIA Study Brief and the Technical Memorandum on the EIA Process, AA released the EIA Report for public inspection for 30 days on June 30, 2014.
AA is currently reviewing and updating cost estimates of the 3RS Project. The review is expected to be completed within 2014.
(2), (3) and (4) The Airport Authority Ordinance provides that the Chairman and Board members of the AA shall be appointed by the Chief Executive (CE), and the appointment of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the AA shall be approved by CE. The Government appoints non-official members of advisory and statutory bodies based on merits, taking into account the needs of the bodies concerned. In the process of making an appointment, the Government will take into account different factors, such as the abilities, expertise and experience of the appointees; the functions and nature of work of the bodies concerned; and the need to maintain effective operation or work continuity of the bodies.
In October 2013, the Government announced the extension of appointment of Dr Marvin Cheung Kin-tung as the Chairman of AA for one year with effect from June 1, 2014. However, for personal reasons, Dr Cheung subsequently decided to retire. The CE appointed Mr Jack So Chak-kwong to succeed as Chairman of AA. Due to his other work commitments, Mr Jack So can only assume office on June 1, 2015 the earliest. Pending arrival of Mr Jack So, Mr Vincent Lo Hong-sui who is an incumbent Board member, was appointed as Chairman of AA for the period from June 1, 2014 to May 31, 2015. Both Mr Jack So and Mr Vincent Lo have rich experience in public service. The Government considers that, under the leadership of Mr So and Mr Lo, the AA will continue to spearhead the long-term development of the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA), including the 3RS and the NCD, as well as to strengthen HKIA's status as an international and regional aviation hub.
The CE has also appointed four new Board members. With rich experience in their respective fields, they will be able to offer useful and professional views for the development of the AA.
The Board of the AA set up a Selection Committee last year to carry out global recruitment of the next CEO. During the past six months, the Selection Committee considered a number of potential candidates and interviewed candidates from Hong Kong, Britain, the Middle East, Australia and Southeast Asia. The Committee considered Mr Fred Lam Tin-fuk the most suitable candidate as the next CEO of the AA and recommended his appointment to the Board of the AA. The recommendation was unanimously endorsed by the Board at the Board meeting held on June 17, 2014 and was subsequently approved by the CE. Mr Fred Lam has rich administration and management experience of large-size organisation. With proven leadership skills and strategic vision, Mr Lam has built up extensive connections with local and overseas business communities, and also with a wide spectrum of stakeholders. He will continue to lead the AA to enhance airport services and take forward various development projects of strategic importance.
Given that both the AA and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council have robust governance structure, the professionalism and continuity of their management teams will not be affected by individual instances of personnel change.
Ends/Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Issued at HKT 15:47
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