'CE Should Drop Lantau Plan To Signal New Start'

An alliance of green groups says Chief Executive Carrie Lam should demonstrate to the public that she is sincere in mending social rifts – by withdrawing plans to reclaim over 1,700 hectares of land off Lantau island.

The CE announced the Lantau Tomorrow Vision project in her last policy address, with the aim to boost land and housing supply.

But the alliance said on Friday that the CE had ignored the public's opposition to the project, just like she did over the extradition law bill.

It said the reclamation project would cost too much – a record HK$624 billion of taxpayers' money – and the government should instead make use of existing brownfield sites.

The alliance's spokesman, Paul Zimmerman, said the government should now drop a HK$550 million funding request for a study relating to the project, even though the item had been put at the bottom of the Legco Finance Committee's agenda.

Zimmerman, who represents Designing Hong Kong, said Lam can take away an area of conflict immediately if she makes it clear that she is dropping the plan.

The other groups in the alliance include Greeners Action, the Save Lantau Alliance, and Green Sense.

In her media briefing last week, the Chief Executive had promised to revamp the government's style of governance by reaching out to the people more and listening to views from various sections of society.

She also appealed to the public to give her administration another chance, admitting its approach to the extradition bill saga had been a failure.