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Following is a question by the Hon Frederick Fung and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, at the Legislative Council meeting today (June 28):
Question:
The substantial toll increase of the Eastern Harbour Crossing in 2005 aroused widespread public concern about the substantial toll increase of some of the road harbour crossings, the uneven distribution of traffic among various crossings, and the toll adjustment mechanism for Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) transport infrastructure facilities. The Government put forward a number of options for improving the distribution of traffic among the three road harbour crossings in April 2005, and indicated at the meeting of the Panel on Transport on December 19, 2005 that it would further consider the option involving a combination of franchise extension and toll rationalisation, and would continue its discussion with the tunnel operators concerned. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the latest progress of the consultation with various sectors and discussion with the tunnel operators concerned on the above-mentioned problems and solutions, including the response of the tunnel operators concerned, the difficulties encountered in the course of discussion, the expected date for reaching a final solution, and whether it has scheduled a timetable for reaching a consensus on a solution with the tunnel operators concerned; if not, of the reasons for that;
(b) whether it still favours the option involving a combination of franchise extension and toll rationalisation as the solution to the above-mentioned problems; if not, of the option which will be chosen by the Government and its details, and whether further consultation on this option will be conducted; and
(c) whether it has reviewed the BOT mode currently adopted for the development of transport infrastructure facilities, especially whether there is room for improvement in the toll adjustment mechanism for such facilities; if so, of the details and result of the review?
Reply:
Madam President,
We have been actively discussing with the franchisees of the Eastern Harbour Crossing (EHC) and Western Harbour Crossing (WHC) how to improve the distribution of traffic among the road harbour crossings. We do not consider it appropriate to set a timetable for the discussion or disclose the details at this stage, as this will reduce our flexibility in considering the different options, and may not be conducive to achieving the best results for the public and taxpayers. We will report to the Legislative Council and the public on the progress of the discussion at an appropriate juncture.
We consider that a combination of franchise extension and toll rationalisation is an option that is worthy of our consideration. We have been actively exploring with the franchisees of EHC and WHC possible options with a view to reaching an agreement that would be beneficial to the public, fair to taxpayers and able to tackle the traffic problems.
The "Build-Operate-Transfer" mode currently adopted for the development of transport infrastructure has its historical background and is closely related to the political climate, economic conditions as well as investment costs and opportunities prevailing at the time when the facility was constructed. We will review the existing mechanism and consider whether and how public-private-partnership could be applied to new transport infrastructure projects. In formulating the toll adjustment mechanism for new projects, we will also take into account the views of all concerned parties, local and overseas experience in operating similar infrastructure projects, as well as other relevant factors.
Ends/Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Issued at HKT 12:14
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