Northern Metropolis mega-project should take priority over artificial islands scheme off Lantau, Hong Kong’s Regina Ip says
- Remarks by top adviser to Hong Kong government has raised eyebrows in political circles and divided opinion
- Ip casts doubts over economics of Lantau Tomorrow Vision, says HK$580 billion price tag to build three artificial islands ‘very preliminary’
Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, the Hong Kong government’s top adviser, has urged the administration to prioritise a mega development project near the border with mainland China over a controversial plan to reclaim three artificial islands off Lantau, raising eyebrows in political circles and dividing opinion.
While political scientists said the administration should take the chance to address the public’s concerns about the Lantau Tomorrow Vision plan given Ip’s clout, an insider said her remarks in her capacity as convenor of the key decision-making Executive Council would inevitably embarrass the government.
Ip, a veteran lawmaker and chairwoman of the New People’s Party, on Monday said the HK$580 billion (US$78.3 billion) price tag for building 1,000 hectares of artificial islands in waters off Lantau near Kau Yi Chau was “very preliminary”.
While she said the government should continue its study on the project, which aimed to build 210,000 flats to house half a million people and create the city’s third business district, she cast doubt over the economics of it.
She questioned whether the city really had such a great demand for commercial land, pointing to a great number of sites to be provided in the future at Kai Tak and areas near the city’s airport.
“With limited resources, the Northern Metropolis development must be prioritised over the Kau Yi Chau reclamation,” Ip said, questioning whether the government had the ability to push ahead with both projects simultaneously under the current financial conditions.
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Under the Northern Metropolis scheme, proposed by former chief executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, an international IT hub and 900,000 flats for 2.5 million people will be built near the mainland border in the northern New Territories.
