Hong Kong to push ahead with funds plea next week for ambitious Lantau Tomorrow Vision plan for artificial islands
- Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s signature policy would lead to creation of artificial islands covering 1,000 hectares
- Finance Committee expected to debate funding preliminary study next week after lawmakers ran out of time in previous Legislative Council term
Hong Kong’s government is pushing ahead with a controversial plan to build a new metropolis on artificial islands at a cost of hundreds of billions of dollars, and will approach lawmakers next Friday for funding to carry out a preliminary study.
Opposition lawmakers have vowed to use filibustering tactics to block the funding request for the officially named Lantau Tomorrow Vision, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s signature policy initiative, accusing the government of draining the city’s dwindling public coffers.
Politicians ran out of time to debate the funding request for the preliminary study into the project, which would require massive reclamation off Lantau Island, before the previous Legislative Council term ended in July.
According to the latest agenda for the Finance Committee in the new Legco term – extended for a year after the government postponed September’s elections citing the Covid-19 pandemic – the scheme is listed as the 11th item for its meeting next Friday, below 10 funding applications for the creation of new government posts.
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Why Carrie Lam’s Lantau land reclamation plan is so controversial
The ambitious megaproject is a contentious issue because of concerns about its HK$624 billion (US$80.5 billion) price tag and the potential threat it would pose to the environment and marine wildlife.
