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A Government spokesman today (February 6) dismissed as misleading a newspaper report that the Government has been withholding "a secret report" recommending in-situ redevelopment of the existing Central Government Offices (CGO) and Murray Building.
"It is a totally unfounded allegation that the Government has been withholding any such analysis from the Legislative Council (LegCo) and the public.
"Throughout the process of consultation and deliberations with the Legislative Council, we have furnished detailed information as to the rationale, justifications and various considerations regarding the Tamar development project.
"In the Legislative Council Brief issued on April 30, 2002 explaining the Government's decision to develop the new Central Government Complex and Legislative Council Complex at Tamar, we set out the comparison of the Tamar site option and the in-situ redevelopment of the CGO and Murray Building.
"We highlighted that having regard to the planning concept, demand and supply of Grade A office, timeframe and operational efficiency, the Tamar site is a better option than in-situ redevelopment. Compared with in-situ redevelopment, the proposed development at Tamar would be completed at least four years earlier," the spokesman said.
Since early 90's, the Government had been looking into options trying to cope with the growing demand of office space in the CGO and Murray Building. Previous research on in-situ redevelopment showed that while it might be technically feasible to redevelop the CGO, there would be significant constraints. In particular, the required decantation of an interim reprovisioning for the staff of CGO and Murray Building would cause serious disruption to the operation of the Government Secretariat.
There are also concerns on site limitations, such as presence of a large number of mature trees, and preservation of historical features, for instance, character of the open space outside St. John's Cathedral and Court of Final Appeal, Battery Path etc. Furthermore, the in-situ redevelopment could not resolve the accommodation needs of the Legislative Council.
"Since the announcement on re-launching the Tamar development project in October 2005, the Government has been in close consultation with the LegCo on the details of the Tamar development project. We have reiterated the justifications for the Tamar site and its relative merits over the option of in-situ redevelopment of the CGO and Murray Building," he added.
To recapitulate on the background, the Tamar site was first earmarked for reprovisioning of the Government Secretariat in January 1998. The existing uses of the Tamar site, i.e. half for "Government, Institution or Community" use and half for "Open Space" use, have since gone through the due and statutory public consultation and planning process before the approval of the relevant Outline Zoning Plan in 2000.
It has been the planning objective to develop the Tamar site into the civic core of Hong Kong, comprising the new Central Government Complex, new Legislative Council Complex and a civic place as core development components.
The Tamar development project would address the acute office space shortage problem long faced by the Government Secretariat and the LegCo. The proposed development of around half of the Tamar site (i.e. 2 hectares) into a civic place would enable the vibrancy and public enjoyment at the waterfront, the spokesman added.
Ends/Monday, February 6, 2006
Issued at HKT 20:00
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