Many Funding Requests Have To Wait: Chan Kin-por

The chairman of Legco's Finance Committee, Chan Kin-por warned on Monday that around 20 to 30 government funding requests may not be approved before the council breaks for the summer recess in July.

This came as the pan-democrats sought lengthy discussions on more initiatives than he expected.

Chan explained that he had originally thought that the pan-democrats would seek detailed debates on just two of the items on the agenda – funding for the innovation and technology park at the Lok Ma Chau Loop, and expenditure relating to the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.

But he said opposition lawmakers have indicated that they want more time for discussing 16 other controversial items, like infrastructure works for the West Kowloon Cultural District.

The finance committee chief said he expects each 'controversial' item to take eight hours of debate.

He also said he will seek to schedule more meetings, but conceded that he expects the committee to be able to deal with only around half of the controversial items, and anywhere between 30 to 40 of the more straight-forward projects before the summer recess.

The committee is yet to deal with around 70 funding requests for various government projects. Chan had revealed after a meeting with Chief Executive Carrie Lam last Thursday that livelihood-related projects – such as those relating to hospital development and schools – will be pushed to the top of the agenda for speedy approval.

But Chan is now warning that even with the reshuffle, many items will have to be carried over to September when the council reconvenes.