Fate of Hong Kong Ferris wheel ‘to be known in days’ says mediator and entrepreneur Allan Zeman

Chief Executive Carrie Lam struck more diplomatic tone, saying deal was commercial arrangement and government could not intervene in small dispute

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On Monday night, the government threatened to seize the land on which the wheel sits. But on Tuesday, Carrie Lam struck a more diplomatic tone. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 10:38pm, 5 Sep 2017Updated: 11:15pm, 5 Sep 2017

The fate of Hong Kong’s waterfront Ferris wheel will be known in “days”, according to one of the mediators in the commercial dispute, as Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said the government could not intervene.

With time running out for the Hong Kong Observation Wheel, the old and new operators were not far from a deal, said mediator Allan Zeman, the flamboyant entrepreneur who founded the Lan Kwai Fong nightlife district.

“A deal is being worked on at the moment between the operators and I hope something will work out,” Zeman said. “Hopefully we might see an end to it soon. We’ll know in days.”

On Monday night, the government threatened to seize the land on which the wheel sits. The attraction was closed last week without any warning or explanation.

Cars on the Hong Kong Observation Wheel sits empty in Central after the operator's contract expired on Monday, August 28. Photo: Nora Tam

Swiss AEX, the previous operator of the attraction, had earlier lost a new tender exercise to The Entertainment Corp Ltd (TECL), which must operate a wheel but not necessarily the current one. The two companies have been locked in a dispute over payment issues, which contributed to the sudden shutdown.