Our Society hereby announces the official commencement of a Signature Campaign as part of our “Save Our Harbour” Campaign that we have been undertaking for the past nine years. The purpose of the Campaign is to stop the Government from permanently damaging the Harbour, and ruining Hong Kong’s Central District through massive development.
This is the last chance for Hong Kong people to speak up and to demand that the newly elected Legislative Council and the Government will hear their voices. We aim to collect at least 100,000 signatures and hopefully even more.
Our Society has done everything we can which includes taking the Government
to the Court of Final Appeal where we won an unanimous judgment. However,
our Society has found that the law cannot protect the Harbour because we
are unable to enforce the law against the Government. Therefore it is up
to the people of Hong Kong to look after the Harbour which is their own
special public asset for the benefit of themselves and future generations.
We appeal to the people of Hong Kong to support this Signature Campaign.
“Vote for the Harbour” Campaign
We are pleased to report that, of the 60 new Legco members elected to the Legislative Council, 43 have pledged their support of our campaign to protect and preserve the Harbour while the remaining 17 have not replied.
Government Misleading the Public
In its recent Press Statement, the Government had failed to give a satisfactory explanation of the following:-
1. The gazettal of 584 hectares of reclamation, most of which were gazetted within the past six years. The Government has neither officially withdrawn these reclamations nor published any binding official document to satisfy the public that these reclamations will not be pursued.
2. The Central Reclamation will produce 800,000 sq.ft. of land for development, 700,000 of which will be sold for commercial use.
3. An additional 13 million sq.ft. of gross floor area will be developed in the Central District.
4. Such massive development will attract additional traffic to Central thereby aggravating traffic congestion in the Central District and necessitating a new surface road network (known as P2).
5. The Government has been publishing misleading information regarding the Central Reclamation, in particular, its colour brochure entitled “All About Central Reclamation Phase III”.
6. The Chief Executive Tung Che-hwa has misled the Hong Kong public and
the international community that there will be no commercial development
on the Central Reclamation.
Re-zoning Request To The Town Planning Board
Our Society has submitted a re-zoning request to the Town Planning Board for reduction of the extent of the Central Reclamation and the proposed massive developments thereon. The Central Reclamation has never been approved by the Town Planning Board based upon the correct understanding of the law as pronounced by the Court of Final Appeal Judgment. It is extremely disappointing that the Government has already pre-judged the issue and publicly announced that the reclamation extent of the Central Reclamation will not be reduced.
In doing so, the Government as the proposer of the Central Reclamation, is purporting to act as the judge of its own cause. The Government is thereby acting contrary to the Rules of Natural Justice and is damaging a special public asset without allowing the Hong Kong public to have a voice.
Message to Thanks
Our Society is grateful to the following Legislative Councillors for agreeing to be Sponsors of this signatures campaign:
Mr Albert Cheng, Ms. Choy So Yuk, Ms Audrey Eu, Mr. Martin Lee, Mr. Alan
Leong, Dr. K.K. Kwok, Ms. Margaret Ng, Mr. Ronny Tong.