'We have to reach out and be prepared that there will be minority views'
The government was wrong, Mr Tsang said during the interview, in failing to take into account differing views over demolition of the Star Ferry pier in Central, a row that has prompted a rethink on the city's consultative mechanism.
It was unfortunate that opposing views had not come up in the early stage of the consultation, Donald Tsang Yam-kuen said.
'They have come up at a time when we've already let out the contract ... There is credibility at stake. We have to preserve our credibility in the international bidding process,' he said.
Activists calling for the preservation of the pier staged a high-profile protest last month, as bulldozers moved in to tear down the structure and clock tower. 'The minority few who were featured in the reports were considered as secondary. We were wrong now with hindsight. We were wrong,' said Mr Tsang.
The fact that dissenting views could emerge at a late stage reflected problems with the scope of the government's long-standing consultation mechanism, he said.
'In the consultative machinery, the process is all right, but it was not wide enough in its reach. Perhaps we do not have the right people on these boards as well,' Mr Tsang said. Membership of the Antiquities Advisory Board, which was consulted over the Star Ferry pier demolition, was later expanded.
