政府有法不依，不理法庭判詞，繼續填海。

[Kelvin490]

There is a heated debate on the recent issue of the harbour reclamation works. Diverse views have been expressed in the community on the legality and scope of the Central reclamation. Phase three of the Central reclamation is one of the two remaining portions of the Central and Wan Chai reclamation, which started in the 1990s. Traffic congestion has all along been a serious problem in the business hub of Central. At present, east-west traffic on the north side of Hong Kong Island relies mainly on the Connaught Road Central/Harcourt Road/Gloucester Road corridor. The government claims that this has reached its capacity, resulting in frequent, serious congestion. The comprehensive traffic study conducted by the government shows that there is an urgent need for a new trunk road, that is, the Central-Wan Chai bypass, and other related road systems to solve the serious congestion problem. As early as May 1998, the Town Planning Board gazetted the Draft Central District (Extension) Outline Zoning Plan, in accordance with the statutory procedure under the Town Planning Ordinance, to allow the public to lodge objections. After consideration of different views and in compliance with the Protection of the Harbour Ordinance, the board decided to reduce substantially the scale of the reclamation, from the original 38 hectares to 23 hectares, opting for the plan with the least reclamation.
However, many of the general public do not agree with the government and think that the harbour is the public¡¦s property and should not be destroyed. Some groups were formed in recent years. For example, "Friends of the Harbour" (FOTH), which was established in September 2003. is a non-profit making group subsidiary to the "Society for the Protection of the Harbour" , which is a registered charity. Some other organizations, such as ¡§Save Our Shorelines¡¨ are also formed. These organizations have some common beliefs, such as that the Victoria Harbour is both locationally and morphologically the centre of Hong Kong, it should be reserved for civic and leisure use by all Hong Kong people and under no circumstances should it be bitten away for commercial developments.
In 1997, the Protection of Harbour Ordinance was passed endorsing principles of protecting the harbour. In 2003, the court ruled against the Town Planning Board on the Wanchai Reclamation Phase two project. However, the Central Reclamation Phase three project was allowed to carry on and the government planned to continue to work on it. This triggered the protest in recent days.
There is mainly three groups of people who are opposed the issue of reclamation, namely environmental activists, the democrats and the general public.
Environmentalists mainly concern about the environmental impacts of the reclamation project. According to Lisa Hopkinson of the ¡§Friends of the harbour¡¨, the relentless increase in population living near the harbour causes serious pollution of the harbour, the dumping of wastes near the harbour increases. In the past, when the harbour is wider, flushing effect of sea water can help to reduce the amount of the waste. However, gradual narrowing of the harbour from reclamation has reduced the flushing action of tides, whilst the number of toilets flushing into the harbour has increased. The result was poor water quality and limited marine life.
Environmentalist also afraid that the loss of natural coastline caused by reclamation will result in a loss of important habitat and shallow feeding areas for many inter-tidal creatures that live in shallow sandy bays or on rocky shorelines. In addition, the reclamation itself requires clean coarse sand, often dredged from different, more pristine parts of the ocean bed, often at the cost of coral and other bottom-dwelling organisms.
The environmentalists¡¦ concerns focus on the possible damage of the natural habitat and the deterioration of water quality. In my opinion, their motivation of complaining the government is correct, because there is no political reasons behind their point of views. Also many of them are professionals in environmental science, they have the knowledge about how reclamation can affect the harbour. However, there is one problem exists, that is, the environmentalists might ignore other aspects of the issue. They may not consider the present need of solving the congestion problem in central. At present, the Connaught Road Central/Harcourt Road/Gloucester Road corridor is operating over its capacity and there is regular traffic congestion during the peak hours. Environmentalists may concern on environment more than problems on the other aspects. It can be misleading if only environmental problem is concerned.
Democrats are also quite active in this issue. Martin Lee Chu-ming says the harbour was worth fighting for and that Hong Kong would be nothing if it were not for Victoria Harbour. However, politicians usually speak for there parties and might want to gain support from the public by opposing government¡¦s policies.
The general public also do not want to lose their harbour. For Hong Kong people, it would be quite sad to see the harbour is narrowing and looks more and more like a river.
The government has its own reason for reclamation. It¡¦s main reason for reclamation is to solve the congestion problem. According to some press releases and statement issued by the government. The government says it has thoroughly considered the presumption against reclamation under the Protection of the Harbour Ordinance. Central is full of buildings. On top of that, the MTR Island line tunnel and other infrastructural facilities are already underground. Therefore, it is impossible to build the bypass on existing land. If a new trunk road has to be built, reclamation is the only solution. The government claims that it has done many studies on other possible solutions to the problem and has already consider the environmental factors before planning the reclamation. However, the government has misled the public for many times. In the past, there were some times that the government proposed the reclamation for meet the public¡¦s needs, but after the reclamation were finished, the government change the use of land. According to ¡¥The Friends of the Harbour¡¦, in West Kowloon Reclamation, the government has promised public park to public, but the area of reclamation has been re-zoned for commercial and cultural development. In Central Reclamation Phase I, the former Central Bus Terminal and Yaumati Ferry Concourse have been re-zoned for commercial development and the bus terminal and ferry concourse will be moved to the new Central Reclamation Phase III. From these unpleasant history. It¡¦s quite hard to believe that the government¡¦s reclamation project is purely for the public¡¦s own good.
In my opinion, Hong Kong is a city renowned for its harbour, the Victoria Harbour is actually a heritage of Hong Kong, there is already many commercial building in Hong Kong, it is not worth to landfill the harbour for any commercial proposes. Landfill that small area does not do much benefits to Hong Kong, but the harm is unaffordable for us. Victoria Harbour is a world-class waterfront. It be returned to its people.




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[Guest]

82 歲 前 大 法 官 護 維 港
李 福 善 指 政 府 填 海 「 下 流 」

【 本 報 訊 】 港 府 一 意 孤 行 不 斷 在 維 港 填 海 ， 迫 使 前 任 大 法 官 李 福 善 上 街 抗 爭 ， 他 接 受 訪 問 時 形 容 港 府 堅 持 填 海 「 下 流 」 ， 工 程 雖 然 合 法 但 不 依 人 情 ， 希 望 更 多 人 上 街 向 政 府 顯 示 實 力 ， 又 認 為 若 市 民 批 評 政 府 有 理 ， 應 讓 市 民 發 洩 不 滿 。

應 讓 市 民 發 洩
八 十 二 歲 的 李 福 善 上 周 日 首 次 參 與 街 頭 抗 議 活 動 ， 出 席 護 維 港 行 動 ， 他 接 受 無 電 視 訪 問 時 表 示 不 滿 港 府 堅 持 填 海 ， 「 第 一 ， 唔 公 道 ， 依 法 律 ， 但 唔 依 人 情 ； 第 二 ， 可 以 再 講 ， 真 係 下 流 。 」
首 次 參 與 街 頭 抗 爭 活 動 ， 李 福 善 認 為 民 眾 能 向 政 府 施 壓 ， 「 上 街 上 得 多 會 變 成 風 氣 」 ， 「 今 次 行 街 ， 非 我 所 願 意 ， 但 我 不 得 不 咁 樣 表 達 （ 不 滿 ） 。 」 他 表 示 相 信 民 眾 的 壓 力 ， 「 最 好 有 三 、 四 百 萬 人 ， 有 咁 多 實 力 ， 希 望 佢 （ 政 府 ） 肯 做 。 」
雖 然 李 福 善 批 評 填 海 工 程 ， 但 他 受 訪 時 堅 拒 評 論 政 改 問 題 ， 只 說 港 英 時 代 已 證 明 行 政 主 導 行 之 有 效 ， 普 選 會 變 成 立 法 主 導 ， 但 認 為 若 市 民 批 評 政 府 有 理 ， 應 讓 市 民 發 洩 不 滿 ， 「 古 語 有 云 ， 防 民 之 口 ， 甚 於 防 川 。 」 他 又 說 這 次 上 街 並 非 要 「 博 出 位 」 ， 「 好 多 人 誤 解 我 博 出 位 ， 實 情 係 最 好 唔 使 （ 上 街 ） 。 」

[Guest]

Dear Friends of the Harbour,

Seeking a place in TST to set a cam to monitor the CRIII in webpage

We are going to set up a cam to monitor the Central Reclamation III project, we need a commercial/residential flat at Tsim Sha Tsui (e.g.Star House that can see the CR3 project) to set up a small cam which connect with a PC with broadband, public will witness the huge reclamation project in our webpage (say update every hour) later and as a documentation for this destruction to our precious Victoria Harbour.

We would like to see any Friends of the Harbour will able to donate this small place for us to set up this Cam. Please forward this to your friends which potentially have place available, Thank you very much for your help in protection of harbour. For any enquiry, please call us at 3101-8191.

[;''o]

[;''o]

[Guest]

政府有法不依，不理法庭判詞，繼續填海。
政府無法無天。嚴重反對!

[Guest]

孫明揚:中環填海沒準備停工[12:44]

2003/09/20


中環填海計劃3期主要在天星碼頭至會議展覽中心之間填海造地18公頃，預計於2007年9月竣工。（劉焌陶攝）




房屋及規劃地政局長孫明揚表明，中環第三期填海工程是合法的，政府沒有準備停工或延遲工程。

孫明揚重申，中環第三期填海工程合法，沒有違背早前法庭對灣仔北填海工程裁判的三大原則。

他強調，政府沒有任何停工或延遲填海的安排。他指出，工程一旦有延誤，政府有可能要面臨承建商索償，按照合約，估計每延誤一天要賠償一百萬元。

孫明揚強調，其實保護海港協會的方案與政府的方案內容很相近，他希望與協會方面加強了解和溝通，消除誤會。

保護海港協會主席徐嘉慎則表明不會讓步。他堅持政府要在下周三限期前暫停填海工程，否則協會會向法庭申請司法覆核，要求發出禁制令。徐嘉慎又說，不會與孫明揚見面。

徐嘉慎擔心，過份填海會影響維多利亞港的保育，亦嚴重打擊將來的旅遊業和船務發展。

(記者:何永康)

IT IS AGAIN THE MISCONDUCT OF THE SAR GOVERNMENT.

[Guest]

昨晚看無線新聞, 正苦計劃在中環填海區建大型打橫式商業及商場城,
以前又話為了灣仔繞道才填海, 現在又話填了海, 不要浪費地方云云.....真是前言不對後語!

點解ICAC唔查一查有無官商勾結呢?


以下是關於灣仔繞道的新聞
http://hk.news.yahoo.com/060626/12/1p7c8.html
http://hk.news.yahoo.com/060519/12/1nzq3.html

[Citizen]

Government will soon propose to reclaim 15 hectares in Wanchai. Would this proposal pass the legal requirements ?

[overcome]

Pls prevent harbour reclamation
http://forum.hkgolden.com/view.asp?message=852032


more information
http://www.harbourprotection.org/html/central_b5.htm