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Following is a question by the Hon Albert Ho and a written reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Dr Patrick Ho, in the Legislative Council today (April 26):
Question:
Regarding the outstanding projects of the former Provisional Municipal Councils, will the Government inform this Council of:
(a) the current progress of the two projects tried out under the Private Sector Finance approach (i.e. Leisure and Cultural Centre in Kwun Tong and Ice Sports Centre in Tseung Kwan O); and
(b) the amount of provisions involved in each of the 70 projects involving leisure and cultural facilities and the 10 projects involving environmental hygiene facilities which have been put under review; the reasons for the above projects involving environmental hygiene facilities not being taken forward as soon as possible, and whether any of the 80 projects (excluding District Square Areas 33A and 29 Tin Shui Wai) can be implemented as minor building works projects; if so, of the titles of such projects?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) The Administration has identified two leisure and cultural facilities projects in Kwun Tong and Tseung Kwan O Area 45 for pilot development using a "Private Sector Financing" approach. The pilot scheme includes the provision of a civic centre on a site at the junction of Tsui Ping Road and Lei Yue Mun Road, Kwun Tong, refurbishment of the existing Kwun Tong Swimming Pool; and the construction of an ice skating rink centre and a ten-pin bowling centre together with a town park in Tseung Kwan O Area 45.
As the project is a completely novel concept, its implementation involves a lot of complicated policy considerations, including effective utilisation of land resources, the extent of participation of the Administration and the private sector and the mode of co-operation between these parties, and the ways in which the operation will be monitored in future. The Administration is examining the relevant policies.
(b) Recently, following the consultation with the relevant District Councils, the Administration has completed the review of 74 Ex-Provisional Municipal Council / leisure and cultural services projects. The preliminary estimate of the total cost of these projects is about $10 billion. Having considered the views of the District Councils, we have proposed to commence planning for 19 of the projects and another two new projects and then seek funding approval. We have reported the progress to the Subcommittee to Follow Up the Outstanding Leisure and Cultural Services Projects of the Former Municipal Councils of the Panel on Home Affairs on March 30, 2006 and will continue to follow up (including the cost estimates of these projects and the timetable of the works). As for the remaining 55 projects, we will regularly review their priorities with the District Councils and will consider implementing some of the projects as minor works projects in phases in order to be able to provide the public earlier with some of the necessary facilities.
As regards the ten environmental hygiene projects (the total cost of the projects is estimated to be $1.4 billion), planning is being carried out for four of them (namely retro-fitting of air-conditioning to Fa Yuen Street Market and Cooked Food Centre, general improvement works to Po On Road Market and Cooked Food Centre, general improvement works to Sheung Wan Market and construction of a new public toilet at Ngong Ping). For these projects, either the proposed project designs have been finalised or consultation is being conducted on the scope. It is planned that funding approval for three of the projects will be sought in 2006. The implementation of the remaining six projects (i.e. Tung Chau Street Complex, Hung Shui Kiu Complex, reprovisioning of Sai Yee Street Depot at West Kowloon Reclamation, Chai Wan Vehicle Depot, general improvement works to To Kwa Wan Market and general improvement works to Kwun Chung Market) is not urgently required mainly for the following reasons: it is necessary for the project to tie in with other development plans; there are already a number of markets in the neighbourhood; or the conditions of the existing facilities are still acceptable. The Administration will continue to review the actual needs for these six projects before deciding whether they should proceed.
Ends/Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Issued at HKT 15:09
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