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The following are the key points of the Secretary for Home Affairs, Dr Patrick Ho, while speaking to the press today (May 23) on the preservation of the Queen's Pier:
"Having thoroughly considered the assessment of Queen's Pier conducted by the Antiquities and Monuments Office, the views expressed by various professional organisations, heritage groups and other concerned parties, as well as the discussion of the Antiquities Advisory Board on 9 May, I agree that the Queen's Pier does not possess the requisite historical, archaeological or palaeontological significance for it to be declared as a monument.
According to the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance (Cap.53), any place, building, site or structure, has to be considered to be of public interest by reasons of its historical, archaeological or palaeontological significance, in order to become a monument.
Up to now, only a total of 63 historical buildings have been declared as monuments, all of which are pre-war buildings.
There is no automatic linkage between graded buildings and monuments. Not all Grade I buildings would ultimately be declared as monuments under the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance. Some declared monuments did not go through a grading process. At present, most Grade I buildings have not been subsequently declared monuments.
I, as the Antiquities Authority, therefore consider that while the Queen's Pier possesses certain historical significance, it falls short of the requirements for it to be declared as a monument under the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance."
Ends/Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Issued at HKT 13:51
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