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Following is a question by the Hon TAM Heung-man and a written reply by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Rafael Hui, in the Legislative Council today (December 7):
Question:
Regarding the reprovisioning of the Central Government Offices, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the total number of parking spaces for government vehicles and vehicles for personal use of civil servants at the existing Central Government Offices, and the areas and locations of the respective car parks;
(b) of the daily numbers of government vehicles and vehicles for personal use of civil servants which are not allocated parking spaces at the Central Government Offices and which enter and exit these offices and the passengers carried; and
(c) among those mentioned in items (a) and (b), the numbers of vehicles that will be allocated parking spaces at the new Central Government Offices on the Tamar site, as well as the percentage of such numbers in the total number of parking spaces at the new Central Government Offices?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) The Government Secretariat (GS) comprises the Main Wing, East Wing and West Wing of the Central Government Offices (CGO) and the Murray Building. At present, the GS has 380 parking spaces, 200 of which are located at the Lower Ground level of the CGO and Ground Level of the various office buildings. The remaining 180 parking spaces are located at the Ground Level and Lower Ground Level of the Murray Building. The area of each of these parking spaces ranges from 9.6 m2 to 11.3 m2, catering for the differing needs of saloon cars and goods vehicles.
(b) Except for authorized visitors, vehicles which have not been allocated parking spaces at the GS or do not have CGO parking permits displayed on them are normally not allowed to enter the GS compound or use the parking spaces there, irrespective of whether the vehicle owners are civil servants or not. In fact, the GS exercises effective control over the number and traffic of vehicles visiting the GS mainly through the issuing of parking permits under an application system. We do not, and need not keep records on the types and number of vehicles visiting the GS each day, nor on the number of passengers carried in each vehicle.
(c) The proposed Tamar development project is expected to be completed in 2010 at the earliest. We will consult the policy bureaux concerned to update the details of the project. We will set out the details of the new Central Government Complex (CGC), including the number of offices and staff working therein, floor areas, number of parking spaces, and related justifications, etc., in the submission to the Legislative Council next year when we seek funding approval for the project. To facilitate a fair and reasonable allocation of parking spaces in future, we shall make reference to existing standards for allocating parking spaces and estimate the actual needs of various users.
Though information relating to parking spaces at the new CGC is not available at the moment, Members may refer to the paper submitted by the Administration to the Legislative Council in 2003. It was then planned that around 500 parking spaces would be provided under the proposed Tamar development project, including 120 to be reserved for the new Legislative Council Complex and the remaining 380 for the new CGC.
Ends/Wednesday, December 7, 2005
Issued at HKT 11:40
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