Regina Ip today asked government for a vote to include an elevated cycle track as part of its T4 Trunk Road project: the request was denied
The government today denied lawmakers a chance to vote on whether an elevated cycle track should be included in its controversial T4 Trunk Road project after Hong Kong Island West lawmaker Regina Ip requested “green features” earlier dropped be included as an option in the LegCo approval package.
Ip raised the issue with Secretary for Transport in the Finance Committee approval meeting today, asking if lawmakers could vote for the project’s original $7.16 billion “full package”, which included the elevated cycle track, pedestrian elevators and greening features.
Ip said such elements, amounting to 5% of the funding request but dropped last week by the government after lawmakers balked at the total project cost, would enhance the living environment of residents.
But Secretary for Transport and Logistics Lam Sai-hung refused to allow discussion and rejected the idea of a vote for different spending levels, claiming those parts of the project removed from the latest spending proposal were already history.
“The scope of the project has already been revised,” he said. “We can’t go beyond the scope of the project.”
Lam said the abolition of the elevated cycle track had “struck a balance”.
“We have balanced the interests of different parties. That is the enhancement we made,” he told lawmakers.
Ip quipped back “Well, if citizens criticise the lack of a cycling bridge I will say it has nothing to do with me.”
61 lawmakers, including Ip, voted “yes” for the final $6.81 billion spending package, with three against and 12 abstentions, a record number of rejections in a Finance Committee approval meeting.
One of those voting against was Election Committee lawmaker Doreen Kong, who criticised the government for doing a “bad job of explaining itself” and for not giving citizens a clear picture of the need for the new road as part of broader government policy.
“The T4 can’t fundamentally solve the traffic problem in Sha Tin,” she said. “It will divert traffic but will cause congestion in Lion Rock and Tate’s Cairn tunnel, it doesn’t address the root of the problem. While the Finance Committee may green-light the project it doesn’t mean the project is reasonable,” she said.
Fellow Election Committee lawmaker Adrian Ho asked the government if cost reductions could be found in cutting consultants’ fees.
“Hong Kong has seen no lack of consultants for major road projects, they have a lot of business,” he said. “Has the administration made use of these advantages to drive down the construction costs, the consultant costs and the EIA costs?”
But Michael Fong Hok-shing, director of Civil Engineering and Development (CEDD) said the government had a “very stringent mechanism” for engaging consultants.
“It’s an open exercise with competition,” he said.