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Following is the question by the Hon LAU Kong-wah and a written reply by the Secretary for Economic Development and Labour, Mr Stephen Ip, in the Legislative Council today (June 21):
Question:
As the Kai Tak Planning Review is underway, the plan to develop cruise terminal facilities in South East Kowloon (that is, the Kai Tak area) cannot be implemented in the near future. The Tourism Commission invited interested parties to submit, by December 31 last year, Expressions of Interest for the development of a new cruise terminal, in order to ascertain whether there were suitable locations other than Kai Tak that might facilitate the earlier completion of the development of a cruise terminal. Regarding the progress of developing a new cruise terminal, will the Government inform this Council of:
(a) the progress and outcome of the authorities' consideration of the Expressions of Interest received last year;
(b) the timing for consulting this Council and the public on the location of the new cruise terminal; and
(c) the anticipated completion date of the new cruise terminal and the implementation timetable for the whole facility?
Reply
Madam President,
Kai Tak has always been the Government's preferred location for the development of cruise terminal facilities. The Government has reserved land in Kai Tak for the development of cruise terminal facilities. The Planning Department is consulting the public on the planning of Kai Tak, which includes the proposed cruise terminal development.
In order to develop new cruise terminal facilities as early as possible, the Government invited interested parties to submit Expressions of Interest (EOI) at the end of last year. The EOI seeks to ascertain whether there are suitable and feasible locations other than Kai Tak for the development of new cruise terminal. We received six suggestions. The Government is actively considering the suggestions from different aspects and other related issues such as the construction method for the cruise terminal, the authorisation procedures and the implementation timeframe. We will inform the Legislative Council and the public of our position once we are ready.
Ends/Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Issued at HKT 14:32
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